Lone Defender
by HorrorSkit
Summary: What if Adam wasn't left behind on Earth? What if he had found out that Shiro crashed on Earth and helped Keith rescue him? How will the story change? What kind of emotional turmoil and challenges will Adam have to face being part of a team he never expected to be on? And how will him and Shiro handle their relationship in the face of a galactic battle that threatens the universe?
1. Prologue

It was late at night as Adam made his way through the living quarters of the Galaxy Garrison. The hallways were dimly lit, indicating that everyone was supposed to be in their dorms for the night. Despite his rank, being out this late at night without authorization could still get Adam in trouble, but that didn't matter to him. This was something he needed to do, and tonight would be his last chance. Luckily, he was on one of the higher floors, and patrols mainly focused on the first few levels where new recruits and cadets were housed.

As he came upon the correct room, he pressed the doorbell next to it. He waited a moment, looking down the hallway in both directions before pressing it two more times. Adam waited patiently as he heard shuffling behind the door before it finally opened. Shiro stood there on the other side of the door, his eyes weary with sleep and his hair messy and sticking up in places. He was dressed in a pair of light grey sweatpants and a white tank top that hugged his chest.

As he came into view, Adam hung his head in shame and embarrassment, awkwardly crossing one arm over his chest to grab the other before managing to say, "Hi."

Shiro rubbed the sleep from his eyes, taking in Adam's reserved state, who was still fully dressed in his garrison uniform, "Adam? It's the middle of the night," he said with an inquiring tone, trying to shake the grogginess from being woken up.

Adam made himself look up at Shiro, his chest tightening up in anticipation. It had been days since they last spoke, and that time away had made it harder for Adam to own up to his feelings. But the distance between them had been even more unbearable. So now he found himself here, trying to confront the lesser of two painful experiences, "I know. I just…. I had to see you."

Shiro seemed to think for a moment, considering whether or not he should even let Adam in. He took a deep breath before finally sighing and stepping aside, "Come in."

Adam walked by Shiro into his room, taking his shoes off at the doorway like he usually did when they used to live together. However, in the final weeks before the Kerberos mission launch, Shiro had moved back into his old room. Adam had wanted to savor the time they had left together before he left, but as the inevitable day drew closer, their fights became more frequent and more intense. The blissful final days that Adam wanted to spend with Shiro had instead turned into a painful reminder of the heartache that was waiting for him at the end of it all. Being who he was, Adam couldn't help but fight against that, hoping that just maybe he could convince Shiro to stay. Unfortunately, that was what also drove him away.

With the launch around the corner, Adam didn't want to leave things in such a poor state. He had to see Shiro and reconcile with him on some level. If he didn't, he would probably spend every day regretting it, and Adam had enough regrets as it was. He stood there in the middle of Shiro's living room, shifting uncomfortably on his feet and unsure of what to say, "So… you're going to go?" he asked, referencing the mission in question.

"Adam…" Shiro breathed out in annoyance. If this was how this conversation was going to go he would have to ask Adam to leave. He was so tired of the fighting, and that was exactly where this line of questioning was going to end up.

Adam quickly cut back in, "No! I know…. stupid question. I'm just not really sure what to say," he admitted, scratching the back of his head.

Shiro was a little perplexed by Adam's current state. He usually had two main settings, emotional mess or sarcastic ass. It was a little jarring sometimes, but Shiro had never really minded. Seeing him act with hesitance now made him question what Adam wanted. Shiro crossed his arms and leaned back against the door, keeping himself composed until he could suss out what was going on, "Why don't you tell me why you came over here?"

Adam took a deep breath before starting, feeling like he was being put on trial all of a sudden, "After all the fights, arguments, and just bad stuff these past few days…."

"Adam, I don't want to talk about that stuff anymore," Shiro sighed in frustration. He was glad to see Adam again after their brief separation, but this is exactly why he wasn't too keen on inviting him in.

"And I don't either!" Adam quickly assured him, afraid that this conversation would end before it even started, "That's why I'm here. I'm just…. I'm just tired of it all, and I…" Adam shifted and turned his head away, his cheeks turning red, "Can you stop looking at me?!" he pleaded. Adam rarely showcased this kind of emotional vulnerability, and having Shiro's piercing gaze fixed on him wasn't helping things.

Shiro saw the way Adam withdrew into himself and walked over to him instead of looking away, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Adam," he spoke in a soft, reassuring tone. Adam found himself being drawn in to meet his gaze, finding a sympathetic look on Shiro's face. Shiro could see the timidness in Adam's hazel brown eyes, and it suddenly became clear why Adam couldn't look at him. "Why are you here?" he asked once again, this time in a much more soothing voice.

Adam felt much more secure in the wake of Shiro's comforting presence, making him answer with a brutal honesty that he was usually incapable of around other people, "I just…..want to be with you. Even if you hate me now, I just want to be here with you one more night before you leave. I don't want you to go feeling like we've drifted apart…."

Shiro drew back in slight surprise at Adam's insinuation that Shiro held any hatred towards him. He pulled Adam in for a hug, feeling him quiver in his arms, "Why would you ever say that? I love you. I always will," he declared.

Adam choked back a sob, pulling Shiro tighter into him, "Then why are you doing this to me?" he cried.

Shiro felt a rush of guilt come over him. That was a loaded question if he had ever heard one. He knew this was going to be a painful experience, but it was something that was going to happen eventually. It's the only real comfort Shiro could take out of this whole mess. But to spare Adam's feelings he merely answered, "Because I need to do this for myself." If only that was the whole truth of it.

Adam pushed Shiro away in a fit of anger, his glasses askew and eyes watering from the tears he was holding back, "But we're in a relationship! You can't just make decisions for yourself without me or considering my feelings. I need you here!" Adam cried. He stood there waiting for what Shiro would say, hoping that maybe he would offer some kind of comfort. Hoping that just maybe, he could make the pain stop.

"I'm sorry Adam. I did consider you, and I'm so sorry," Shiro said evenly. Adam felt like he had been punched in the gut. No. Like he had been punched in the gut before that fist tore through his body and ripped out his heart. The offhand way that Shiro basically admitted that he disregarded Adam's feelings brought his whole world crashing down. Shiro was one of the only people Adam found himself trusting at the garrison, or in a long time really. He never let people in ever since the tragedy that befell him years ago. So to have one of the only people he trusted in years do something so cruel to him, it was absolute agony.

Adam gritted his teeth, tears beginning to flow from his eyes as he furrowed his brow in rage. "You're such an asshole Takashi!" he sobbed.

Adam was the only person Shiro knew that could get so angry to the point that he started crying. It was kinda cute, but heartbreaking as well. Shiro smiled sadly at him, "I know," fully aware that this would be the best thing for both of them in the long run. Or at the very least, this would be the best thing for Adam, no matter how much he was hurting right now.

"I meant what I said. If you go on this mission we're not together anymore! I can't keep doing this with you. You know what this means to me!" Adam yelled at him, tears continuing to pour down his face. He couldn't wait for Shiro to come back. Not after everything he had been through. It was just too much to bear, and all too familiar.

"I know," Shiro said again.

Adam could barely handle it. The casual way Shiro was handling his outburst pissed him off so much. He felt like he was going to boil over. Adam wanted nothing more than to scream in his face and ask him why he insisted on doing this, why he was choosing a space mission over his relationship, despite knowing full well that it would be a betrayal to him. That's what he wanted to do, but every single question he could possibly ask was a tired argument they had already had multiple times over. And every time Adam couldn't help but get the sense that Shiro wanted it to end. Not just the arguments, but their whole relationship. And if that was true, this was cruelest way to go about it.

Adam marched over to Shiro and pushed him back against the door, until his back hit it with a slight thud. He punched at Shiro's chest, over and over again as tears poured down his face. Shiro didn't struggle, letting Adam take his frustration and anguish out on his body. He didn't mind. The punches didn't particularly hurt. Adam just couldn't quite get a handle on his emotions, and lashing out physically was the only thing he could manage to do right now. He was mentally drained, and the strength of his punches suffered as a result. It was a futile way of trying to make Shiro share the same kind of hurt that he was feeling. Anything to make him stop acting like it was no big deal. Fighting and yelling? Adam could deal with that. But indifference? Somehow that hurt even worse than Shiro leaving him behind to go on this mission.

After a moment Shiro finally stopped Adam by grabbing his arms and holding them firmly in his grip. Adam struggled weakly to break free, his body exhausted from his emotional episode. He collapsed forward, his head falling into Shiro's chest as his body went limp. Adam cursed out in defeat as he did so, continuing to cry, "You're an asshole Takashi. I hate you. I hate you so much."

Shiro wrapped his arms around him, burying his face in the top of Adam's hair, "No you don't."

Adam moaned out a painful sob. It wasn't fair! How could Shiro always see through him so easily? How could he always tell when he was lying? "I should!" Adam yelled in defiance, "I should hate you for putting me through this," he sniffled, his glasses fogging up as he pressed his face deeper into Shiro's chest, refusing to look up at him as he spoke, "But… you're still my best friend, and I love you. So please just….. just come back okay? Please come back! Because if you die I'm gonna kick your ass!" Even if the heartache was unbearable now, Adam knew he wouldn't be able to handle it if something bad happened to Shiro. So no matter how much it hurt, he needed to console himself with the knowledge that he would at least make it back for him to still be pissed at. He needed to believe that Shiro would make it back so Adam could scream, tease, and make fun of him for going through with this stupid mission.

Shiro cupped Adam's face and lifted his head up so he could look him in the eye. Adam's eyes were red and puffy, his cheeks stained with tears and his glasses foggy and askew. He looked like an absolute mess, and Shiro couldn't help but think about how cute he looked. He kissed Adam on the forehead, dwelling on the sad fact that leaving him behind was the best thing he could do for him. The love, the tears, all of these were things he couldn't allow himself to have ever again.

"I'll come back. I promise," Shiro said, straightening Adam's glasses and brushing away the dried tears on his face. He reached down and grabbed Adam by the hand, leading him away from the doorframe and toward the bedroom, "Come on. Let's go lay down."

Adam let himself be pulled into the room, a warm feeling washing over him as he realized that he would get to spend Shiro's last night on Earth in his embrace. As they entered the room Shiro let go of his hand and climbed into bed. Adam stripped off his garrison uniform, leaving himself in only his dark grey tank top and purple briefs. He took off his glasses too, quickly wiping them clean with the hem of his shirt before setting them on the bedside table. Adam followed Shiro into bed, cuddling up to him and resting his head in the crook between Shiro's chest and his shoulder. He threw his leg over Shiro's, wrapping an arm around him to hold him close, and taking comfort in the steady way Shiro's chest rose and fell with each breath. Adam felt an indescribable peace wash over him, savoring the warmth that Shiro's presence provided. A warmth that ultimately, he would have to let go of. But for right now, he was here, right next to him. He could feel his breath and hear his heartbeat, and that's all he needed in the whole world.

"I don't know how I'm gonna do this without you Takashi," Adam whispered, feeling himself start to drift off.

Shiro ran his fingers through Adam's hair, "You'll be fine. You have our friends on the fight crew, classes to teach, and you're one of the smartest people I've ever met. You'll be fine without me," Shiro stilled, tilting his head to rest against Adam's, "It'd be best for you to put me out of your mind until I come back. After all, I'm a doomed man. I'm not going to be worth much to you in a few years."

"Don't say that!" Shiro gasped in surprise as Adam sat up in a flash, grabbing his arms by the wrists and pining them down next to his head. Adam looked like he was going to start crying in anger all over again, a rush of adrenaline fueling his actions, "Don't you ever talk about yourself like that!" Adam pleaded, a look of anguish gracing his features, "... Not with those words."

"Adam," was all Shiro could manage to say, stunned by Adam's passionate outburst.

Adam sat there in Shiro's lap, keeping his hands pinned to the bed as he spoke with brazen honesty, "I know you're in pain. You're suffering, but you won't let me help you. So the last thing I want to hear from you is how worthless you are. You're the farthest thing from worthless. You're the most important person in my life, so shouldn't that count for something!" Adam yelled. Shiro just laid there, unsure of what to say and totally entranced by Adam's words. "You act like there's no one around to help you. But I'm here. So why? Why won't you let me help!?" Adam squeezed Shiro's wrists tighter, afraid that if he let go of him now he would lose control of the situation. Keeping Shiro pinned like this was the only thing that was keeping him from crying all over again.

As the initial shock of Adam's actions wore off, Shiro recomposed himself, trying not to let his grief show and saying, "That's not a burden you should have to bear."

Adam shook his head, refusing to accept that as an answer, "And you shouldn't have to shoulder it all on your own! I want to spare you of your pain, and ease your despair. I want to be the one that's always there for you, even if we're not together," Adam squeezed his eyes shut to hold back his tears, holding himself there for a moment before looking Shiro directly in the eye and yelling in his face, "So stop talking like you're going to fade away without it meaning anything!"

As Adam screamed at him, Shiro looked up at him dumbfounded. Silent tears began to flow from his eyes, the only indication of what he was feeling on the inside. Adam gasped out in surprise, sitting up and letting go of Shiro's wrists, horrified that he had just made Shiro cry. In all of their time together, he wasn't sure he had ever seen Shiro cry. It just wasn't a thing that happened. Shiro was always the composed one when it came to serious emotions. Sure, he could be playful and even a bit of a horndog sometimes. But when it came to something serious, he never gave any indication of what he was really feeling. The only insight into his deeper emotions that Adam ever got was the occasional sad look on his face.

As tears flowed from his eyes, Shiro continued to speak calmly, "I'm so sorry I hurt you. For putting you through all this. My biggest regret is getting involved in your life and forcing you to suffer through all this heartache. If I hadn't tried to pursue a normal life and be with you, I could have prevented all this pain."

Adam closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, unable to look at him anymore, "Why do you keep saying such cruel things?" It was hard enough to lay out his emotions on the table like this. And it was even harder to see Shiro actually shed tears over the whole situation. But Shiro kept acting like his own life wasn't worth the effort. Like his mere existence was a burden that he placed on others. He had no concept for just how much he meant to Adam, and it tore Adam up inside, "I was a stubborn brat when I first came here. I hated every second of this place. But when I met you…. it's the only time I've felt happy in a very long time. You're the reason I'm still here. You made me stick with it," Adam admitted.

Shiro finally sat up too, resting a hand on Adam's waist to get his attention and looking at him with genuine curiosity, "Do I really mean that much to you?"

Adam opened his eyes to look at him, "Yeah," he nodded, barely able to whisper out his last reply. What he really wanted to say was 'of course you do dumbass!', but he didn't really have the energy for that. This whole experience was so much more emotionally draining than anything he could have ever expected, and it was taking its toll on him. Adam wasn't entirely sure that he wasn't going to cry himself to sleep tonight.

Shiro had stopped crying though, his expression turning to one of joyful sympathy, "That makes me so happy, but It's not fair to stake your happiness on me alone."

Adam leaned forward, pulling Shiro in for another hug and hiding his face away in the crook of Shiro's neck. As he held him tight he mumbled into Shiro's shoulder, "I don't know what else to do."

Shiro wrapped his arms around him, relishing the warmth of Adam's embrace, "You're going to be the amazing man I fell in love with, because you don't need me here to be that man."

Adam let go of Shiro, leaning back to look at his face while his hands rested at his sides, "I don't think I can," he confessed. Shiro was like the sun, burning bright and lighting up the world for all those around him. At least, that's what he felt like to Adam. How could he possibly go on without him? What was he supposed to do without that one shining light that made everyday at the Garrison worthwhile?

As this thought crossed his mind, Adam realized Shiro was right. He was weighing all his happiness on Shiro alone. But how could he not? He had no family left to speak of, and no friends that he was particularly close to. In fact, that was one of the reasons that Adam joined the Galaxy Garrison in the first place. That, and he had a personal stake in joining as well. A driving force that pushed him to be one of the best, but ultimately wasn't enough to fulfill him on a personal level. That's where Shiro came in. Shiro was the only other person who knew why Adam pushed himself so hard, and maybe that was why he came to rely on him so much. He never let others in, but Shiro literally came crashing into his life the day he joined. He was an unstoppable positive force that seemed almost determined to get through to Adam, and like an idiot Adam had to go and fall in love with him. What was he supposed to do without the one person who had literally become his whole world?

Shiro held Adam's hands in his own, "Well I guess you're just gonna have to prove yourself wrong then. You like proving people wrong, right?" Shiro asked with a sad smile. Adam had a stubborn personality. One that thrived on proving that he could do things when others told him he couldn't. While most people thought Adam was a spiteful asshole, Shiro actually admired that quality about him. He never let others tell him what he could and could not do. If someone told him he wasn't capable of something, Adam would go out and do it just to prove a point. Ironically, it was that quality that inspired Shiro to go out on this mission now. And now here he was, trying to inspire the very same quality in Adam that he knew he was already capable of, "Do that for me," Shiro asked of him.

Adam could hardly believe it. Shiro always seemed to have wisdom beyond his years, embracing the challenges life threw at him with a clear head and offering advice to those who seemed overwhelmed by their troubles. It was one of the most amazing and frustrating things about him. How could someone like that even be real?

Adam choked out a laugh, "You always know just what to say, don't you?"

Shiro shook his head, "That's not true at all. I just stumble through life one day at a time," he admitted. Shiro put on a brave face every time he was met with a new challenge or obstacle, keeping his fears and doubts locked away on the inside. He didn't want to burden others with his troubles, so he resigned himself to keep his pain hidden from others. Eventually, it became a habit to do so, and he had ended up keeping his real emotions at bay in everyday life. But every now and then, Adam could pierce through that veil and see the despair that weighed on his soul. And despite that, Adam continued to think the world of Shiro. It confused him, but he never let himself think too much about it. Instead he chose to resign himself to just being happy with Adam, never confronting the reason why he was held in such high regard by someone who could see his deepest flaws.

Adam leaned forward, catching Shiro's lips in a tender kiss. Shiro kissed back, feeling the dampness of Adam's tears on his cheeks as he cupped his face. Adam moaned lightly into the kiss, pulling Shiro in tighter. He savored the taste of his lips, knowing that it may very well be the last kiss they ever have.

As they pulled away Adam rested his forehead against Shiro's. Shiro chuckled lightly, the taste of coffee that had been on Adam's lips washing over his taste buds. Shiro hated the taste of coffee, but right now, it was the sweetest taste in the whole world. Adam didn't notice Shiro's little laugh, or at least he didn't say anything about it. He merely kept his eyes closed and whispered, "I love you,"

Shiro pulled Adam down with him back into bed, settling back into the position they were in earlier before Adam's little outburst. Drained and tired, Adam was quickly falling asleep in Shiro's arms. He clung to him tightly, praying that this night would never end, so that the morning when Shiro had to leave wouldn't come. He wanted nothing more to live in that dream. And Shiro wished that he could do the same. He wished that he could give Adam the comfort and stability that he needed. That they could spend the rest of their lives in sweet embraces like this one. But that too was a dream. All they could do was try to hang on to the last moments of peaceful serenity they had together. Tomorrow, everything was going to change, and in ways neither of them would ever expect.

Before Adam dozed off completely, Shiro rested his head against the top of Adam's. As they drifted off into a peaceful sleep, both happy and heartbroken, Shiro said for the very last time, "I love you too."


	2. The Rescue

**AN** : I forgot to write this last time, but I own absolutely nothing! I'm hoping you will all read and enjoy this story, and I hope you will leave comments! The last chapter was a prologue, so I didn't think much about adding and author's note, and I'm still learning how to use this website. But either way, please enjoy the official first chapter of Lone Defender, based off the artwork of revolocities

 **Chapter 1: The Rescue**

Shiro stood at the edge of a rocky cliff, overlooking the sunset as it poured its soft orange glow over the desert. This was one of Shiro's favorite spots, and he frequented it often. He would ride his hoverbike in this area with Keith and Adam on occasion. He even took cliff dives off it with his bike, much to Adam's disapproval. There's was something peaceful and serene about it that spoke to Shiro.

"How are you feeling?" Shiro turned to see Adam walking up to him. Adam was dressed in his Garrison uniform, a look of genuine concern on his face. Ever since Shiro made it back to Earth, Adam had been watching over him with the utmost care. Still, there was something that nagged at Shiro.

"Why did you come after me Adam?" he asked without hesitation, making Adam stop dead in his tracks.

Adam looked generally confused and hurt by his insinuation, "Why would you ask that? I couldn't just leave you. Even if I am a little upset at you, I would never leave you behind."

"But you wanted me to go, didn't you?" Shiro asked, his face becoming stern and his tone accusing. What the hell was up with him? Shiro never placed blame on Adam for that. He wanted to go! It was the center of their arguments and the cause of their break up.

"Are you kidding me?!" Adam yelled, "You know how hard I tried to stop you!"

Shiro shook his head, "You didn't try to stop me. You just walked away and let me go," Shiro accused him. The sun set, the dark sky taking over the landscape as Shiro marched toward Adam. He looked him dead in the eyes and said, "You let me die."

"Wha….No!" What was happening!? What happened to Shiro while he was gone? He was being so cruel and vindictive. This wasn't the Shiro he knew. It couldn't be. Adam took a step back, trying to run away from the situation. But Shiro quickly grabbed him by the shoulders and held him there, his fingers digging into Adam's skin painfully.

Shiro held the same flat expression, tears flowing down his face freely as he spoke, "Why Adam? Was my disease too much of a burden on you? Were you afraid that I'd become weak and frail? That it would make start to hate me?"

"No…" Adam barley breathed out. He could feel tears welling up in his own eyes as Shiro's words cut right to his heart. It wasn't true. He didn't hate Shiro because of his disease. He didn't. He didn't!

"Is that why you left me to my fate?" Shiro asked, blood beginning to pour from his forehead, "Is that why you let me share the same fate as…"

"NOOOOO!" Adam screamed, pushing Shiro away until they were both plummeting off the edge of the cliff.

VVVVVVVV

Adam shot straight up in his bed, covered in a layer of sweat. He took a moment to catch his breath, trying to regain his bearings in the wake of such a horrible nightmare. It had been a long time since he had a nightmare like that. After Shiro left on the Kerberos mission, he had the occasional bad dream about Shiro never coming back. After it was announced that Shiro and his team were gone due to piloting error, those nightmares grew more severe. But it had been months since that day, about a year from the moment Shiro took off into space. As time went on, the bad dreams got less severe and less frequent. Adam liked to believe it was a sign he was moving on, but the truth always haunted him in the back of his mind. This nightmare was just a stark reminder that he would never really get over it.

Adam looked over at the empty space in his bed where Shiro used to sleep. He liked to remember the way Shiro's face would be buried in the pillow, his mouth slightly parted open as he snored and even drooled a little. It was one Adam's favorite memories because it reminded him that Shiro wasn't the perfect shining star everyone made him out to be. He had flaws, and was bad at relationships, and he could even be a bit of a ditz sometimes. It was those memories that Adam wanted to hold onto, but it was also why he couldn't let go. No matter how much he wanted to move on, Adam's heart was still wanting.

"Even when you disappear, I can't get away from you," he whispered, knowing that he would never escape his nightmares.

Adam threw the covers off his body and stood up out of bed. His grey tank top was completely soaked through with sweat. He pulled it over his head and tossed it aside, exposing his torso to the cold night air. The sheen of sweat covering his body made it colder, making him shiver slightly. He walked into the bathroom, turning on the light. He turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water on his face before patting it dry with the washcloth hanging by the sink. When he was finished he took in his appearance in the mirror. His hair was clung to his forehead by water and sweat. His eyes looked tired, dark circles forming under his eyes from the stressful dream he had. You still make my life hell, don't you Takashi? He thought with some irritation.

He sighed before turning off the light and getting back into bed. He decided not to put on another shirt, lest he have another nightmare and soak it through with sweat again. Adam laid in bed, plagued by the memory of his dream. Why would he dream about Shiro now? He wasn't thinking about him before he went to bed, and there was no significant date coming up to make Adam unconsciously think about him. Adam reached up and fiddled with his necklace, a silver ring tied around his neck by a black nylon cord. He never took it off, and it had become a habit to fidget with it to keep himself calm. It was like a nervous tick, one that he had developed fairly recently.

As he did so, it became easier to clear his thoughts, letting go of whatever had caused him to have such a horrible nightmare and fall back to sleep. Adam closed his eyes, pushing all thoughts of Shiro away. Pushing all the memories away, the happiness, the pain, the love. Adam pushed it all away, hoping that one day he would finally be able to let it all go. But there was always that nagging thought in the back of his mind that if he ever did, then Shiro would really be gone forever. And Adam wasn't ready to accept that. Horrible as they may be, his nightmares were the only times that he could see Shiro again. Maybe one day, the pain would outweigh the benefits. Adam cleared his head, not wanting to dwell on it anymore, and fell back to sleep. He had no more dreams that night.

VVVVVVVV

After Adam finished teaching his classes, the Garrison was bustling. Not in any noticeable way, but the higher ups were moving about rather quickly, seemingly under some kind of pressure. It was the kind of activity that was only noticeable if you knew what to look out for. Having made his way through the ranks to Lieutenant Commander and squad leader of his own flight team, Adam was one of the few people who would ever notice these things. He decided to make his way to the command center to get an idea of what everyone was so worked up about.

As he walked into the Garrison's epicenter, everyone was on high alert. The analysts were working frantically, tracking something on screen. It was a rendering of the Earth's atmosphere, and it looked like they were monitoring an inbound projectile. He saw Iversom in the upstairs control post, which overlooked the operation, and made his way up to him.

"Iverson, sir, what's happening?" Adam asked, making a quick salute as he stopped in front of him.

Iverson quickly acknowledged Adam's presence and explained the current situation, gesturing to the images on the monitor. "We have an unidentified aircraft coming into our atmosphere, and it's projected to land in the desert near the Garrison. That will allow us to keep the incident confidential for now, but we must be prepared for every eventuality. A team lead by myself will lead a quarantine operation into the desert to secure any assets we may recover."

"Aircraft…" Adam's thoughts were suddenly pulled to his dream from the previous night. Him and Shiro, reunited after so long, and standing at the edge of the desert. Adam didn't believe in things like fate or premonitions, but this aircraft made Adam hesitate. The Kerberos mission was the last space-based venture to take place in the year that Shiro had been gone. And now this mysterious aircraft was going to crash land in the desert near the Garrison? If it was Shiro, that's exactly where he would try to land, and he was the only pilot Adam knew of that could probably pull it off. It was very likely that this was something else, but there was also a good chance it could be the Kerberos team. It was just too much of a coincidence. Adam quickly turned to Iverson, trying to hide his hopeful disposition under a professional façade, "Sir, is it possible that it could be the Kerberos team?"

Iverson looked at Adam with some skepticism, his brow furrowed, "The Kerberos team disappeared a year ago…"

"And they had three years of supplies to survive out there!" Adam quickly cut in. He already knew what Iverson was going to say, and he didn't want him to disregard the idea when Adam was just starting to accept it himself, "No one really knows what happened to them. What if they were finally able to make their way back?" The more he thought about it, the more it was sounding like a real possibility, and he couldn't contain himself.

Iverson seemed to mull over the idea for a moment before finally conceding, "It's a possibility, but the ship coming into our atmosphere is not one of ours, and it's not responding to attempts to communicate. It very well could be first contact with alien life."

Adam felt a little disheartened at the revelation. But the team had been gone for a year, maybe the circumstances of their return had changed, "But if there's even a chance that it could be a survivor of the Kerberos mission, I want to be part of the team sent to investigate," Adam pleaded.

"That's not going to happen," a stern female voice spoke from behind him. Adam turned around to see an older woman with a cleanly pressed Garrison uniform, her gray hair cut short and tucked under an Admiral cap.

"Admiral Sanda," Iverson acknowledged. Both him and Adam saluting as they recognized her approach.

Sanda stood firm, her hands held behind her back as she turned her attention to Adam, "You are too close to this mission. Your personal attachment will make you sloppy and endanger those around you."

Adam was a little surprised. It was no secret that him and Shiro had a relationship prior to the mission, but he didn't think she would pick up his motivations so quickly. Honestly Adam didn't really think he was on her radar. But of course it would figure that she would be here, considering how important this event could be for human history. Adam quickly composed himself, putting a lid back on his emotions except for the hint of irritation he let out in his voice, "With all due respect Admiral, I have never been sloppy. I have always maintained my composure and followed protocol regarding every mission I've ever been on."

"And that service is appreciated. But for now, you and your flight team are grounded until further notice," she spoke coolly, seemingly unfazed by Adam's words.

"Admiral," Iverson tried to cut in, finding it a bit excessive to ground Adam's whole team to the base.

Sanda spoke with more fervor, making it clear that she was putting her foot down, "I will not risk what could very well be first contact on his personal sentiments," she turned to Adam "You are dismissed."

Adam huffed, quickly making his way out of the command center before he lost his cool. As he made his way out, he heard Sanda instruct Iverson to ready his team and prepare a lockdown for when the projectile came within range. Adam wasn't going to let this go, and hearing they were planning a lockdown gave him an idea. Quarantine protocol required documentation of everything that occurred, which meant they would have a video feed set up for the event. And, if they really did believe this was first contact, they were going to be feeding the footage directly to the command center live. So, all he had to do, was find the right person to talk to.

VVVVVVVV

Adam was making his way into the student barracks as the alarm sounded, which instructed students to remain in their rooms until further notice. He was running out of time. If this was going to work, he was going to need to take advantage of the confusion while everyone was still scrambling about. Adam had the clearance to be out on the floor during the lockdown, but the person he needed didn't.

Adam weaved his way through the crowded hallway, maneuvering around the students who were desperate to get back to their rooms, and a couple officers who were ensuring the students were headed back to their quarters. He finally came upon the correct dorm and knocked aggressively, making sure his knocks weren't mistaken for the students mindlessly banging around the halls.

A young woman answered the door. She had short brown hair, glasses, and a complexion that was slightly darker than his own. She was shorter than Adam too, but not by much. She had a stern face as she answered the door, one that quickly turned into a look of surprise as she realized who was on the other side. He smiled at her, "Hello Veronica."

"Lieutenant Commander Wright!? What are you doing here sir?" She asked bewildered. Veronica had been one of Adam's students last year. She was incredibly promising and had a talent to adapt to new information incredibly quickly. It was safe to say that she was brilliant. Adam only had her for one class, but she made a strong impression on him. She was only twenty, but she was definitely going to be one of the Garrison's best and brightest. Veronica in turn had a desire to impress Adam. She was well aware of his academic reputation, and she wanted to prove herself in his eyes, craving any opportunity to show that she wasn't the average Garrison cadet.

"I need your help. You're still one of the most promising analysts and computer experts in the Garrison, right?" Adam asked.

Veronica smiled, "Yes sir. What can I do?"

Adam quickly explained the situation, sneaking her past the officers and out of the barracks after she grabbed her computer bag. Finding their way back into the main compound, Adam led Veronica into an empty computer room. She grabbed her satchel, unpacking her laptop and plugging it into one of the terminals. Adam sealed the door behind them, making sure no one saw them enter so they wouldn't be disturbed.

"I'm not too sure about this sir. This seems like an unnecessary breach of regulations and rank," Veronica spoke with some skepticism, but not stopping her ministrations. It was apparent that her need to impress Adam outweighed her desire to follow the rules, something Adam was banking on, but she still seemed unsure.

Adam walked over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, leveling with her as he made direct eye contact. She was going out of her way to help him, so he wasn't about to lie, "It is, but I just have to know. Please Veronica. If there's any chance that the Kerberos team could be alive…. I have to know. I can't stand by and do nothing."

Veronica sighed, seeming to resign herself to the decision before smirking and pointing up at him, "Okay, but you owe me!" Adam dropped his arms from her shoulders and raised his eyebrows, "Uh, sir," she finished her sentence. Adam chuckled slightly. He almost thought it was a shame he wasn't an analyst, or that she wasn't a pilot. Veronica was endearing, in a very funny but also stern kind of way. She followed the rules, but also knew when to relax. She would no doubt fit in quite easily with his small circle of friends.

Veronica quickly got to work on hacking into the video feed of the quarantine team that Iverson was heading. Adam was pretty good with tech, but he wasn't nearly experienced enough with computers to actual hack the system without getting noticed. Adam was more of a jack of all trades, master of none. He had some experience with computer systems, but he was far better at tech and machinery in terms of electronic applications.

Veronica worked like clockwork, quickly going through the motions like it was the most natural thing in the world, "Looks like the garrison has a direct link to some surveillance footage of the crash site," she said.

She pulled up the footage on her laptop. It was clear the team had just arrived at the crash site. The camera was being held by one of the officers, so the quality was a little shaky. Everyone was dressed in hazmat suits, so it was hard to tell who was who. Off to the side some of the soldiers were setting up the quarantine tent, and attaching the wireless surveillance cams to it so they could monitor all activity inside the tent. Adam made a mental note of that. In addition, there were some soldiers with automatic rifles set up in a standard perimeter.

However, what really caught his interest was the two team members that were hauling something out of the cockpit of the crashed ship. It had a strange design based on what Adam could see. The purple and black color scheme wasn't anything he attributed to any other country or space program, and the wing design didn't seem efficient for actual flight or navigation. As the two soldiers pulled a body out of the wreckage, Adam felt like the whole world just froze around him, his breath catching.

It was Shiro. It was actually him! This wasn't a dream. He was right there, just like he had always hoped it would be. Adam quickly noted the ragged clothes he was wearing, and the very apparent white streak in his hair. What the hell happened to him? "Takashi…" Adam couldn't help but say, instinctively reaching his hand toward the screen as if he could reach through it and touch him one more time.

"Lieutenant?" Veronica's voice quickly cut through Adam's daze, his hand snapping back to his side. He cleared his throat as the soldiers hauled Shiro into the quarantine tent, a few others hanging back to examine the aircraft wreckage.

"Thank you, Veronica. You're a genius," Adam smiled, resting a hand on her shoulder as a sign of appreciation.

"What are you going to do now?" Veronica said, growing more concerned at the situation, and hoping that Adam wasn't going to do something brash.

"There's someone I have to see. Can you send this file to my tablet?" Adam asked, pointing at the footage on her laptop screen.

"Yeah, I can do that easy," she nodded.

"Great, and thanks again," Adam made his way toward the door, opening it and taking stock of who was in the hallway. The coast was clear for now.

"No problem sir," Veronica said, quickly sending the file and then packing up her stuff in her bag. She followed quickly behind Adam, the door sealing behind them as they made their way back to the barracks.

Adam stopped at the elevator since his room was on a higher floor, quickly turning to her and saying, "Now get back to your room before anyone sees you."

"What about you?" she asked, the apprehension in her voice clear as day.

"Don't worry about me," Adam said as he walked into the elevator, "I'll be just fine," He winked, trying to show a casual sign of confidence. It was easy to see that Veronica was becoming very stressed at the situation, and he wanted to make sure she felt more comfortable before he left. A flirty wink seemed the most effective method of setting her mind at ease without coming off as too preachy. Veronica was smart enough to know anything else he said would have been a lie. This seemed the simplest method to keep her calm so she wouldn't feel compelled to tell someone what he was up to.

"Got it," she answered before the elevator doors closed. She was hoping the blush on her cheeks in response to Adam's wink didn't show. As she stealthy made her way back to her room, she whispered to herself, "Way to go Veronica, you just had to go and develop a crush on your gay professor/superior."

VVVVVVVVV

After Veronica gave him the information he needed, Adam grabbed some quick supplies and clothes, and loaded them into a small duffel bag and his satchel. He also changed out of his Garrison uniform and into his causal clothes. A black long sleeve shirt, dark blue jeans, a dirty brown jacket vest, and some comfortable dark brown combat boots. It made sense to change since he was going to be breaking every Garrison regulation there was. At this point, he was pretty much going to be a deserter by breaking Shiro out, and there is no way either of them would be able to go back after this. Adam took one last look around the room, making sure he had everything he needed. It would be strange to leave all this behind. The Garrison was the only thing he had know for so many years. He wasn't exactly fond of it, but it was a better option than growing up in an orphanage. He decided not to linger, as time was of the essence, and set out on his own.

It was surprisingly easy to get past the security checkpoints to sneak out of the Garrison. With all the officers focused on either the space crash or keeping the cadets in the barracks, the guard detail at the entrance was incredibly lax. Even an amateur could sneak out. In no time at all, Adam made it to the outdoor garage where the older cadets could keep their personal vehicles in case they ever had the notion to ride into town. Adam pulled the tarp off his hoverbike, hopping on and revving it up. Luckily, the garage was an outdoor facility, so it was empty during the lockdown. He pulled up to the gate and hopped off his bike, breaking in to the control room box and opening the gate.

Before he got back on his bike and sped off into the desert, he hesitated for a moment. Should he be doing this alone? He had friends that could help him. People that he had actually managed to get close to. Jason was a friend from his flight crew that would do anything for him. Adam never understood why he inspired such loyalty from him, but he could always rely on it. Or maybe he could bring Phil, another friend from his flight team, and a fellow academic. He wasn't exactly fond of Shiro, but he would help if Adam asked him to. Phil was very protective of Adam and was always there to look out for him. Maybe he should be asking them for their help? They would most likely agree, even if it cost them….

No. He couldn't do that to them. Adam never belonged in the Garrison, but his friends did. He couldn't take them away from everything they had built. Adam had enough guilt in his life already. He had to do this on his own, and Shiro needed to be his top priority. If it wasn't for Shiro, Adam never would have been able to make friends with them in the first place, because it was Shiro that allowed him to open up and try to get along with others. His friends may come to resent him for leaving without saying anything, but he didn't have time to say goodbye. Besides, they would probably try and follow him if he so much as tried to, and he didn't want to drag them into this. This was for the best. It was slightly ironic considering Shiro left Adam behind to go on a mission, and now he was doing the exact same thing to the people he cared about. Might as well add this to my long list of regrets, he thought.

It wasn't fair, but he owed Shiro practically everything. There was no other choice for Adam. He got back on his bike and took off, leaving everything and everyone behind, heading towards the only person who could help him now.

VVVVVVVV

Adam speed through the desert wasteland until he came upon the cabin he was looking for. As he pulled to a stop, he stripped off his helmet, staring at the cabin and breathing out a heavy sigh. This was going to an awkward and difficult conversation. Hopefully the footage Veronica sent over to him would be enough to convince him to help.

Adam stepped off his bike and walked up to the front door, knocking loudly.

"Who's there?" Adam heard someone call from inside. Adam did not respond, instead waiting for someone to answer the door. "Who is it!?" They yelled again, this time with more urgency and irritation.

Adam knocked loudly once again. Fed up with not hearing a reply, Keith swung open the door, pissed off and demanding an answer, "Damn it, who… Adam," Keith froze as he saw Adam standing there before him. He was the last person he expected to see, and the last one he wanted to see.

Adam wore a guilt-ridden smile, knowing full well this conversation wasn't going to go well, "Hey Keith. Sorry bout that. I knew you wouldn't answer if you knew it was me."

"With good reason," Keith said flatly, slamming the door shut in Adams face.

Adam quickly stuck his foot in the door frame, sticking his arm in as well to hold the door open, "Wait! Keith please!" Adam pleaded. Their history was complicated, but he needed Keith's help if there was any hope of getting to Shiro now. Keith was the only other person with nothing to lose, and he cared about Shiro just as much as he did. After all, he owed Shiro a lot for taking a chance on him. Adam didn't really understand it, but Shiro saw something in Keith that inspired confidence and trust. And that is a debt Keith would no doubt be willing to repay.

"Go away Adam," Keith growled, pushing harder against the door as if he was hoping to snap Adam's arm and leg off.

"Look Keith, I know you're still pissed at me. But I, ow, need your help."

"Why would I help you? You gave up on everything. You gave up on me, and worst of all, you gave up on Shiro. So just go away!" Keith's words dug into Adam like knives. He carried a lot of regrets, and Keith just laid out most of them in the span of one sentence. Adam had never technically given up on Keith, but he did have his doubts. Everything about Keith's personality and actions told him that he wouldn't last. But Shiro had such faith in Keith, he agreed to get along with him. Unfortunately, Keith could see right through him, and quickly realized Adam didn't believe in him the same way Shiro did.

After Shiro disappeared, Adam feel into a brief depression. During that time, he told Keith about how he tried to get Shiro to stay. That in turn earned him a punch in the face. He was furious at how Adam tried to rob Shiro of his dreams of going to space for his own selfish reasons, and Adam couldn't really blame him for that. Then he admitted that he really did believe Shiro's disease caused him to make a pilot error, and that he was never coming back. That earned him another punch in the face.

After that, Keith seemed to self-destruct in his own way, eventually getting himself kicked out of the Garrison. Adam might have been able to help in that situation, but he was so emotionally distressed that he wasn't really capable of doing anything. There just didn't seem to be a point in trying. In fact, Adam found himself envious that Keith could get away from the Garrison. For numerous reasons, Adam was trapped there. The circumstances of his past meant the Garrison was the only place he could go, but that's not how Keith saw it. So he didn't blame him for hating him. In fact, it was kind of deserved, but right now he needed Keith's help. So he would just have to get over it for now.

"I'm here because of Shiro!" Adam yelled. Keith stopped pushing against the door, but he didn't move away either. He just stood there for a moment, his weight resting against the door. He then collected himself and opened the it so he could look at Adam in the face, searching for any hint of a lie. Adam continued speaking, knowing that he had found his way in, "A spaceship crashed in the desert a few minutes ago. The Garrison has him, and we have to get him, now."

"Why should I believe you?" Keith said, crossing his arms. He wanted nothing more than to believe Shiro was back, but he couldn't just take Adam's word for it. There was too much history between them. Keith could usually tell when Adam was being dishonest, but this was too complicated to rely on that alone.

Adam smiled, fishing into his satchel and pulling out his tablet, "I knew you'd be doubtful, so I made sure to grab a copy of this," Adam opened the file Veronica sent him and paused it on an image of Shiro being carried out of the spaceship, handing it over to Keith to look at. Keith grabbed the tablet and looked at the screen, his eyes growing wide with realization.

"Shiro! What are they doing to him?" Keith asked, his resentment all but forgotten in the face of proof of Shiro's survival. He quickly became anxious, wanting to learn whatever he could about what was going on. For the first time in a year, Keith finally had hope, and he didn't care who was bringing it to him.

"They're putting him in quarantine. I don't know what happened to him, but breaking him out is the only way we're going to get any answers," Adam admitted. "If the Garrison has their way, he's gonna be locked up for months just to keep it a secret, maybe longer. There's a good chance neither of us would get to see him again."

Keith looked back up at Adam, his expression becoming stern again as he handed him back his tablet, "Fine. For Shiro, I'll help you. What's the plan?"

Adam though for a moment about the obstacles between them and Shiro, settling on one question, "Do you have any thing we can use to make a distraction?" Keith contemplated the question briefly before smiling and leading Adam inside his cabin.

VVVVVVVV

On a secluded cliff, three Garrison students, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk, sat overlooking the quarantined crash site.

"Man, we'll never get past all of those guards to get a look," Lance whined. It had been such a hassle to sneak past the guards out of the Garrison. You practically had to be a ninja to get by, and it all led up to nothing.

"Aw, man. Yeah, yeah, I guess there's nothing to do but head back to the barracks, right?" Hunk asked, his eager desire to return to the Garrison far from subtle. It was actually a shock he came out here with them at all.

Pidge was fiddling around with her computer, quickly grabbing the attention of the other two as she found something, "Wait! They set up a camera in there and I grabbed its feed. Look!"

Hunk and Lance huddled around her, looking at the laptop as it showed footage of the inside. On a table in the center of the tent was a man dressed in ragged clothes, strapped down by his arms and legs. A couple people in hazmat suits were holding him down and looking him over.

"Hey! What are you doing?" The man said, struggling against his restraints.

"Calm down, Shiro. We just need to keep you quarantined until we run some tests," said one of the hazmat soldiers holding a tablet. It sounded like it could have been Iverson, but it was impossible to see who was under the suit.

Shiro continued to struggle, "You have to listen to me! They destroy worlds! Ugghhh! Aliens are coming!" He seemed to be becoming more frantic, struggling against his restraints.

"That's Shiro!" Lance chimed in, "The pilot of the Kerberos Mission! That guy's my hero!"

"Guess he's not dead in space, after all," Hunk said offhandedly.

"Where's the rest of the crew?" Pidge asked, trying to sound as casual about it as she could.

"Do you know how long you've been gone?" Iverson asked.

Shiro took a breath, settling down a bit but still trying to press against his restraints, "I don't know. Months? Years? Look, there's no time. Aliens are coming here for a weapon. They're probably on their way. They'll destroy us. We have to find Voltron!"

"Voltron!" Pidge yelled out with recognition. The same word she had been picking up for the last few days while studying radio waves and frequencies in space.

"Sir, take a look at this," one of the hazmat soldiers called for his attention, leaning over Shiro's right arm. It looked strange somehow, but it was hard to see on camera, "It appears his arm has been replaced with a cyborg prosthetic."

"Put him under until we know what that thing can do," Iverson ordered.

Shiro instantly became panicked, struggling with all his might to get free, "No. No. No, don't put me under! No! There's no time! Let me go!" Shiro feel silent as they injected him in the side of his neck, putting him under as they observed his condition.

"They didn't ask about the rest of the crew," Pidge said. Shiro was literally part of the mission she needed to know about. He knew the fate of the other crew members. She had to talk to him!

"What are they doing? The guy's a legend, they're not even gonna listen to him?" Lance complained. He was more offended that they were disrespecting his personal hero from the Garrison. A little shortsighted in the long run, but he wasn't aware of the bigger complications surrounding this issue, "We have to get him out."

"Uh, I hate to be the voice of reason here, always, but weren't we watching on TV because there was no way to get past the guards?" Hunk argued. Sneaking out to see a crash site was one thing, but breaking someone out of Garrison custody!? What the hell were they even supposed to do after that? There were way too many things that could go wrong!

"That was before we were properly motivated. We've just got to think," Lance smiled, eager to engage on a rescue mission for someone he long idolized. No doubt he was coming up with a heroic fantasy in his head right at this very moment.

"Maybe we could get some hazmat suits and sneak in like med techs," Pidge suggested, stowing her computer away in her backpack.

"No. What we need is a distraction," Lance declared.

Almost as if on cue, a loud explosion erupted from the other side of the valley. It had been all the way back toward the direction of the Garrison. Pidge pulled out her binoculars out of her pack and looked over at the source. Just behind the Garrison was a large fenced off area with what looked like generators. It was hard to tell since they were all on fire, but it was an easy guess since the Garrison facility looked like all the lights were shutting down. The guards and hazmat soldiers around the tent clamored, fitting as many people as they could into their vehicles and driving over to investigate.

"Is that the aliens? Are they here? They got here so quick!" Hunk squealed out in a panic.

"No, those explosions were a distraction, for them," Pidge pointed toward two men sneaking down the hillside behind the tent, making their way around to the entrance. One was dressed in a red and white jacket, and a bandana covering most of his face. The other was wearing a brown jacket vest and a bike helmet with a tinted visor that made it impossible to see who he was, "The Garrison's headed toward the blast, and they're sneaking in from the other side!"

It was brilliant! Not only would the explosion draw away most of the guards and security from the tent, but setting the blast so close to the Garrison would warrant an immediate response and draw even the required security detail away. Plus, with them knocking out the power to the Garrison, it would be harder for them to organize and figure out what was happening. The perfect window to infiltrate the quarantine.

Lance snatched the binoculars from Pidge and looked down at the two figures standing outside the tent. With sudden realization he spoke up and yelled, "No way! Oh, he is not going to beat us in there! That guy is always trying to one-up me!" Lance spoke up with renewed fervor, standing up without even worrying about being seen.

"Who is it?" Pidge asked.

"Keith!"

"Who?"

"Are you sure?" Hunk asked, seeming surprised by the revelation.

"Oh, I'd recognize that mullet anywhere!" Lance spoke with utter disdain before tossing Pidge back her binoculars and jumping forward to slide down the hill. Hunk quickly followed, not wanting to get left behind.

Pidge stowed away her binoculars and adjusted her bag, jumping off right behind them, yelling, "Who's Keith? And what about the other guy!?"

VVVVVVVV

The plan had gone off without a hitch so far. Since Keith's dad was a firefighter, he had a surprising amount of fire extinguishers and other materials at his disposal that were susceptible to explosion under pressure. Placed next to one of the transformers just outside the Garrison was the perfect spot to set up a distraction. Adam was able to create a chemical mixture using various products in Keith's cabin to make a timed explosive charge. It gave them just enough time to sneak back behind the cliffs overlooking the quarantine tent before the chemicals finally reacted, creating a massive explosion clear across the desert.

Adam and Keith stood at both sides of the entrance, waiting for the cue to go in. Keith wore a red bandana around his face to hide his identity from the camera that Adam had informed him of. Adam wore his bike helmet with the tint visor on for the same reason. The Garrison would probably figure out who they were eventually, but keeping their identities secret would buy them some more time to figure out their next move once they had Shiro.

"Alright, let's make this short and sweet," Adam breathed to himself. He nodded at Keith and they both charged in.

"Hey!" they immediately grabbed the attention of one of the hazmat soldiers as they charged inside. There were four in total, so they had to move fast. Adam was the first one in, so he grabbed the one closest to the door by the arm, spinning him around to pin it at his back. The other three soldiers jumped into action. As one of them charged at Adam, he released the guy he was holding and delivered a strong and swift kick to his back, sending him flying forward and knocking both soldiers into the nearby machinery and to the ground.

The one closest to Keith tried to deliver a right cross at him, which he easily avoided. Keith grabbed his arm and spun on his heel, using the momentum to throw him over his shoulder and to the ground, the impact knocking him out as he landed on his head. The last one holding the tablet seemed to hesitate, knowing that he was outnumbered and outmatched. He charged at Keith first, thinking that it would be easier to take him down considering his smaller build. Then, he might have a chance at taking down Adam in a one-on-one. Unfortunately, Keith was much stronger than he looked. As the soldier charged at him, Keith deflected his punch, driving his fist into his gut and then delivering a swift uppercut that sent him flying back. Adam sometimes wondered if the kid was on something. To deliver a punch so strong that he literally sent a grown man flying back, it was impressive to say the least.

Adam heard a groan behind him. He turned and saw one of the soldiers he had knocked to the ground hadn't fallen unconscious yet. Adam placed his hand on the bottom corner of the table where Shiro was strapped to, kicking himself off the ground and spinning on his palm to deliver a kick to the soldier's face. As Adam's foot made contact with his head, Adam was pretty sure he felt some teeth come loose. The hazmat suits may work for quarantine, but they sure as hell didn't protect them from anything else. Adam felt a little guilty, but he was at least glad his own team had been grounded, so there was no way he accidently knocked out any of his friends.

Keith grabbed the tablet off the ground and tossed it at the camera strapped to the tent ceiling, shattering both of them. He pulled off his bandana, no longer at risk of being seen. Adam pulled off his helmet too so he could see better. They turned their attention to Shiro, who was still unconscious and strapped to the table. Upon closer examination, Adam could clearly see the metal prosthetic that had replaced his right arm from the bicep down. He could also see the scar that ran across his nose in a straight line. Shiro even looked paler, and a little older too, as if the stress of whatever happened to him caused him to look more mature than he ever had before. Maybe it was what also caused his bangs to turn white. Or maybe it was a side effect of some kind of experiment involving this arm.

"Takashi…. What happened to you?" Adam said, running his hand across Shiro's cheek, taking in the fine details of his face that he had almost started to forget about.

"Come on, help me carry him," Keith said, snapping Adam out of it. Keith had already finished pulling the straps off of Shiro's arm and leg on his side, and was busy pulling off the leg strap on Adam's side. Adam unstrapped the bind from Shiro's metal arm, hauling him up so Keith could get under his human arm. As they lifted him off the table, ready to head out, an unexpected voice cut through the silence and caught them off-guard.

"No, no, no you don't! I'm saving Shiro!" A young man dressed in casual clothes said, He looked about Keith's age, but slightly taller. He had a fairly dark complexion like Adam's, but slightly darker. He was thin, and he carried himself like he was more important than he most likely actually was.

"Who the hell are you?" Adam asked. This kid didn't seem to be a threat. He just looked like some random pretty boy that was trying to chime in on the glory. The only problem was, this wasn't a high school drama class! This was a rescue attempt! And he was wasting their time.

"Talk fast, or I take you out," Keith warned, as if he was reading Adam's mind. The longer they stayed here, the greater their chances of getting caught and being hauled off to captivity.

"Who am I?" the boy asked, seemingly bewildered that Keith didn't recognize him, "Uh, the name's Lance! We were in the same class in the Garrison."

Keith looked over at Adam, as if asking for some kind of confirmation from him. Adam just shrugged his shoulders, "I don't recognize him."

"Were you an engineer?" Keith asked, turning back to look at Lance.

Lance scoffed, "No, I'm a pilot! We were like rivals. You know, Lance and Keith, neck and neck," Lance spoke with enthusiasm, gesturing his hands to get his point across. Wow, this kid really would be good in a play, Adam thought.

"Oh wait, you were the cargo pilot, right?" Keith said, dawning on some faint recognition.

"Well, not anymore. I'm a fighter class now, thanks to you washing out," Lance spoke both proudly, and with minor disdain.

Wait. Cargo pilot that became….. "Ohhh, you're that pilot," Adam said happily. He had heard quite a few stories about Lance and his team, he just never set a face or a name to the stories before. Honestly, they were hilarious enough on their own.

"See! I have a reputation," Lance said smugly, happy that he was being recognized for something, clearly unaware of what that actually meant.

"Yeah, I heard about how your team puked in the flight simulator," Adam deadpanned, clarifying the extent of his social image.

Rather than get bummed out, Lance grew defensive, "That was only one person, and it wasn't me!"

"Guys! They're coming back, and they do not look happy!" another voice yelled. Two more people came in. A large guy with an orange bandana tied around his forehead, and a young girl with a boyish haircut and style of dress.

"Whoa! You're Adam Wright!" the girl spoke up with excitement as she saw his face. It was then Adam realized he left his helmet on the table, so now anyone could see him, "You're the youngest Garrison officer to become a professor!"

"Wait, Pidge, you know this guy?" The bigger guy asked.

"Yeah, he's a prodigy. He's a decorated pilot and an expert medical officer, but his biggest achievements are how he quickly made his way through his academic courses a year early, and he now holds the rank of lieutenant commander! He's a legend among the academically inclined," Pidge listed off his rap sheet with expertise. Sure, Adam had achieved quite a few remarkable things, but he didn't realize he was idolized in a manner similar to Shiro. It caught him by surprise, but pleasantly.

"Lance, was it?" Keith asked, addressing Lance as he pointed at Adam, "THAT is a reputation."

"Whatever! We don't have time!" The big guy spoke up once again.

"Right Hunk, let's go!" Lance agreed.

"Uh, do you guys mind if we catch a ride with you!?" Hunk asked as he held the tent panel open for Adam and Keith as they made their way outside with Shiro. Adam was a little reluctant, but they had already seen Adam and Keith's faces. Besides, they didn't seem to mean any harm. They were just kids after all. It would be better to bring them along then to leave them behind to get captured, and possibly spill their guts about what happened here.

They could see the vehicles speeding back toward their direction once they got outside, the headlights and trail of dust signaling their location. Adam and Keith lead the pack around the tent to where they had hidden their hoverbikes for a quick getaway. As they approached their two bikes hidden around the side of the valley, Adam pulled Shiro free from Keith's grip. Slightly confused, Keith looked at him waiting for whatever he clearly had to say.

"We need to split up the weight if we're gonna outrun them. Keith take Lance and the big guy," Keith looked at the group and the two bikes. He seemed to agree. Evenly distributing the load would be their best chance. Keith and Lance were probably the around same weight, while Hunk was no doubt heavier than all of them. That would leave Pidge with two full grown adult weights. It may have been rough estimation, but it was the best they could do in a pinch. Adam turned to the smallest member of their group, "Pidge, was it? Help me hold Takashi on the bike."

Pidge followed after Adam as he lifted Shiro up bridal style and sat him down on the center of the bike. Pidge climbed up behind Shiro and held him up as Adam got on in front of both of them. As Adam revved up his engine, Pidge realized that she was basically holding up Shiro while she clung to Adam.

"Wait, why am I holding this guy?" She asked at the absurdity of their seating position.

"Let's go!" Keith shouted, speeding off first with Lance and Hunk clinging to his back. Adam followed closely behind, the Garrison hot on their trail.

"Can't this thing go any faster!?" Lance yelled, seeing the Garrison vehicles following closely behind them. They weren't firing their weapons, so they thankfully wanted them alive. Still, there was no telling what was going to happen once they got their hands on them.

"We could toss some non-essential weight," Keith quipped.

"Right!" Lance agreed, looking around the bike for something to throw. Then it dawned on him, "Okay, that was an insult. I get it."

Adam surveyed their surroundings. With the extra weight they had on now they wouldn't be able to pick up enough speed to lose them. The plan had been simple enough from the start, but now there were all these extra variables. They needed to reach a terrain that the Garrison wouldn't be able to follow them on. The fact that they were on hoverbikes and the Garrison was using standard land-based vehicles was an advantage they could use. If this was a tundra, they could just hover over some fragile lakebed ice while the Garrison broke it and fell into the water. But this was the desert, and that meant there was only move they could make.

"Keith!" Adam called out to him, "We need to do a cliff dive if we're going to lose them!"

Keith smiled, "I thought you disapproved of that kind of thing!?" He shouted back. Shiro was a bit of a daredevil, and so was Keith when it came to flying and riding their bikes. Although, Adam didn't really like it. He thought Shiro was playing with his life whenever he did dangerous stunts like that, and he was teaching Keith bad habits by showing him how. As a pilot himself, Adam knew how tricky it was to do all the dangerous stunts that they pulled. Adam even went out with Shiro a few times to try it, thinking it would make him more comfortable if he was there with him. It didn't, but Adam did learn a few tricks.

"Don't be a smartass! This is what we need to do if we're going to get away," Adam yelled.

"Fine, follow my lead!" Keith pulled ahead, veering down a narrow valley to the right, very familiar with the terrain. This was actually a very fortunate route to take. The sloped valleys on both sides would only allow one vehicle through at a time, which meant the Garrison would have to fall in a line to go after them.

"Guys, is that a cliff up ahead?" he heard Hunk yell from in front of them, "You didn't mean an actual cliff dive, right?"

"Pidge, hang on tight!" Adam yelled back to her.

"Oh no, no, no!" she screamed, seeming to understand what was about to happen.

"Yup!" Adam could see them approaching the end of the valley, where it opened up into a wide terrain and ended in a steep cliff. Adam started calculating the weight on his bike, as he would need to accommodate the shift in order to prevent themselves from crashing and burning.

"You're going to kill us all!" Lance screamed.

"Just shut up and trust me!" Keith ordered. He had done this cliff dive dozens of time. There was no way he was going to mess it up now.

As they pulled into the open terrain, Pidge yelled up at Adam, "If you kill us, I'm gonna stop idolizing you!"

"Deal!" Adam quipped as he and Keith flew off the edge of the cliff.

"AGGGHHHHHHHHH!" the others screamed as they flew plummeting to the ground. The Garrison vehicles pulled to a sudden stop at the cliff, just barely managing to avoid going over the edge. As Keith and Adam came closer to the ground, they revved their engines, giving them the propulsion to bounce off the desert floor and keep riding. Adam felt Shiro's head slump against the crook of his neck as they hit the floor, Pidge unable able to hold him steady during the dive. They drove away to Keith's cabin, Adam finding comfort in the feeling of Shiro's weight against his back. Shiro was here. Finally, after a year of pain and depression, he was back. But it was a short lived comfort, because now that Shiro was back, Adam would have to decide what he would do next.

 **AN** : I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. The next one will be coming very soon. Also, Jason and Phillip are OC's that belong to nuinuichen and revolocities respectively. While I only briefly mentioned them in this chapter, I will be using them more in the future to expand on Adam's personal life. Please check out the artists as they make fantastic artwork!


	3. Reunion

**AUTHOR NOTE** : Sorry I suck at updating! I just wrote so damn slow, and I have all these stupid real life responsibilities. Anyway, I hope you all will enjoy this update! Thank you again to everyone who has commented and liked my story, it really means alot!  
Jason and Phil are character owned by nuinuichen and revolocities respectively. I own absolutely nothing!

 **Chapter 2: Reunion**

 **1 Year Ago**

Adam sat alone, hunched over the bar counter as he nursed his glass of whiskey. Shiro had been gone for a couple months now, and Adam had taken to drinking at the local town bar. It was a bit of a ways from the Garrison, but it didn't take long to reach on a hover bike. Adam had started to frequent this place to drown his sorrows when he was overcome by his emotions and guilt.

"Adam," he heard a man call from behind him.

Adam turned to see who it was, hoping against hope that just maybe Shiro had come back. But that was only false hope inspired by the alcohol clouding his reasoning. Instead, he saw an incredibly tall young man wearing a cadet's uniform. He had large broad shoulders, and his hair was an orangish-peach color that looked flame red in the dim bar lighting.

"Hey Jason," Adam greeted before turning back to his drink. Jason Stein Sinclair. He was one of Adam's best friends at the Garrison, and a member of Adam's flight squad as well. He was a kind soul, but sometimes he could be too soft for his own good. But that didn't stop him from being a soldier. He as a determined and dedicated person that always looked out for others and tried to protect the people closest to him. No doubt that was why he was here now.

Jason sat down on the stool next to Adam, his voice full of concern, "Adam, come on. You can't keep doing this."

"I'm not hurting anyone," he declared, taking another swig of his drink. It was technically true. Adam only went out drinking when he had no prior engagements to follow through on. And it's not like he ever got black-out drunk. He just needed something to take the edge off every now and then. Although, maybe it was becoming a little more frequent than it used to. And not only that, but he had started to blow off his friends to go out drinking these days. He should have figured the others would notice.

"You're hurting yourself. And that hurts me, and Phil!" Jason insisted, placing his hand over the one Adam had wrapped around his drink, keeping him from taking another swig and forcing him to look Jason in the eye.

Jason's eyes were pleading, seeing worry in them the second he looked over at him. Adam's eyes must have looked tired based on the expression Jason made. He noticed that Jason was here alone, even though he mentioned Phil. It was unlike him not to accompany Jason in these kinds of situations.

Phillip Choi was Adam's other best friend. He was a relatively short compared to Adam and Jason, but he was one of the brightest at the Garrison. Adam had also met Phil through flight training, and he was now also a member of Adam's squad. However, Phil wasn't exactly the most physically imposing, as his true strengths were in academics. Which was probably the reason why he was so fiercely loyal to Adam. Unlike some of the other jock types like Shiro and Jason, Adam was the only other one who had a strong hand both in being a flight team member and an academic. Considering that, it was strange that Phil wasn't here as well trying to pull Adam from his drunken stooper.

"Where is Phil?"

Jason sighed, giving Adam a sense that he was disappointed in him for something, "He's covering the class you were supposed to be teaching."

Adam inhaled and buried his face in his hands, "Crap… I completely forgot."

Jason leaned forward and put his hands on Adam's shoulders, "I am so sorry about what happened between you and Shiro. But you can't keep doing this."

Adam brushed Jason's hands off of him. He didn't like to be held or touched in such an intimate way. Not since Shiro. And Jason reminded him so much of Shiro in a lot of ways. He didn't need to be reminded of what his touch might feel like as well, "There's so much more you don't know Jason. So much I can't tell you."

"You don't have to," Jason resigned to resting a hand on Adam's knee, noticing the way he flinched away from his touch the first time, "But let us be here for you."

Adam smiled softly, picking his head up to look his friend in the eye, "You're a good friend Jason."

Jason's lip quivered, his eyes watering at Adam's honest appreciation. Oh no. Jason lunged forward and pulled Adam into a smothering hug, "You're a really good friend too!"

Adam laughed lightly, pushing Jason off him and back into his seat before he was smothered, "Why are you the one crying?"

"Sorry, I just love you so much!" He sniveled.

"Okay, come on big guy. You're gonna start a scene," Adam grabbed a napkin from the bar counter and handed it to Jason to blow his nose, "Here."

"Thanks."

"You can be way too sensitive sometimes," Adam leaned against the bar counter as he watched his friend clean himself up. To think someone so large and potentially intimidating could be so delicate. It was funny in an ironic sort of way. Jason was easily the strongest of them all, and yet he was also the weakest.

"Yeah. Phil keeps telling me I feel things way too deeply. I guess it's my flaw," Jason said, balling up the napkin and tossing it into the trashcan behind the bar.

"No, it's a good thing," Adam shook his head, "You know exactly how you feel, and you're not afraid to express that. And it's not like you can't be serious. I've seen you during training."

Jason noticed the way Adam phrased that statement, piquing his interest, "Thanks, but what about you? Don't you know how you feel?"

"Not always. When Shiro left…. I felt so many things. I couldn't get a handle on it. And now, I'm not really sure how he felt either," Adam rested his hand against his heart, his chest feeling heavy under the weight of his guilt, "What if everything I did….. what if it was all a mistake?"

"Well, he's going to come back in about 3 years. Things will be different then. You'll have time to grow and change. I think that will give you plenty of time to figure out your feelings," Jason offered a kind and supportive smile.

Adam scoffed, "Maybe even that's not long enough…" he quipped, "Still…. I want to talk to him again."

"Do you know what you want to say?"

"I don't know. I think maybe…"

"Jason!" Adam was cut off as someone barged into the bar crying out.

They turned to see who was at the door. It was their friend Phillip. He looked desperate and rushed, his glasses were askew and his Garrison uniform was covered in dust. His short black hair also looked frazzled. The desert wind must have caused his disheveled appearance. Most likely he rode he much faster than he needed to. He did get here very quickly since he was supposed to be at the Garrison still. Wait? Didn't Jason say he was covering Adam's class? Why was he here now?

"Phil? What are you doing here? What's wrong?" Jason asked, rising to his feet to meet his friend, and voicing Adam's thoughts.

Adam stayed seated, letting the scene play out before him. Phil placed a hand on Jason's shoulder, giving him a look that told him that he was okay. He brushed past him and turned his attention to Adam. His look was sympathetic, and full of heartache. Adam recognized that look. He had seen it a long time ago, on the worst day of his life. And now, it was happening again. So many faces made that damn look. And he prayed he'd never have to see it again.

"Adam…" Phil tried to speak, his voice cracking on his name. He knew what delivering this news would do to him. But it would be better to hear it from his friends instead of the Garrison officers or the cadets that gossiped in the halls.

"What happened?" Adam asked, tears beginning to run down his face. It was a pointless question. He knew exactly what Phil was going to say, even before he said it. And once he heard those words, he would never have the chance to fix things ever again.

"It's Shiro….."

 **Present Day**

Adam sat perched on the windowsill of the front room of Keith's cabin. After escaping the Garrison, they had doubled back through the canyon maze to cover their trail. It would take quite a while before anyone would be able to track them down. The damage Adam and Keith had done to the main generators would leave the Garrison crippled for a while, and the path they took back to the cabin would leave anyone trying to follow them lost in the valleys. But what was the point? That was the question that Adam pondered as he watched the sun begin to rise over the horizon.

He had acted purely on impulse and desire. Once he saw Shiro on Veronica's computer screen, all rational thought and reasoning had went out the window. He defied the Garrison. Made himself and Shiro deserters. And for what? Because of the possibility they might keep Shiro in quarantine for a long time? Who's to say they wouldn't have let him out eventually? The more Adam considered his actions, the more he started to feel regret over them. Story of his life really.

Adam looked over to the short hilltop where Shiro was standing outside, overlooking the landscape. Adam could see him perfectly from where he sat. The sunrise cast a long shadow across the valley, making it look like Shiro was standing at the edge of the world. It made Adam think of his dream from the night before. The difference here was Adam was sitting inside, watching Shiro afar while Keith talked with him. As he watched them, he came to understand the bond between them was stronger than he ever realized. Keith rested his hand on Shiro's shoulder to comfort him, as if it was the most natural thing in the world for him to do. And Shiro's body seemed to relax under the contact, looking more at ease in his presence. Them two of them truly were…. brothers. Keith was the one comforting Shiro, and Adam was just a passive observer. A third wheel….

Despite all that, at least Shiro was here now. After a year of being gone, and being presumed dead, he was back. There was no telling what kind of trials and hardships Shiro had been through in the time that he was gone, but at least he was healthy, for the most part. When they first got back to the cabin, Adam took the opportunity to examine Shiro's condition. Aside from the obvious metal prosthetic that replaced Shiro's right arm, there were some scars that covered his torso here and there. As for his white streak of hair, Adam wasn't quite sure whether or not it was the result of mental trauma that had caused a physical reaction, or if it was caused by whatever experiment he had undergone that replaced his arm. Survival had obviously been a large part of Shiro's life lately. How unfair, Adam thought. Shiro didn't deserve any of that pain. He was always such a kind and compassionate person. A dedicated soldier, and a man who had to overcome the adversity placed on him by his own body. He shouldn't have had to suffer like this.

But maybe now, Shiro would have a chance to rest. He had slept for awhile due to the sedative he had been given. It gave the others a chance to rest as well until he awoke. When he did, Keith provided him with some of his father's clothes, which luckily happened to fit Shiro's large frame. Adam had mentally scolded himself for not having the foresight to bring some of Shiro's own clothes. It was just another way Keith was able to look out for Shiro where he could not. Adam contemplated all this as he watched them from the window. The real question that needed to be answered was what their next move was going to be. According to Pidge and the others, Shiro was trying to deliver a warning of some kind. They would just have to wait and see what he had to say and decide what to do from there. And more importantly, he had to figure out what he was going to say to Shiro.

 **VVVVVVVV**

"So, what happened out there? Where were you?" Keith asked. He stood with Shiro a short distance from the cabin, hoping to get some answers from him.

After waking up from the sedative, Shiro was completely overwhelmed by the change in scenery and all the people surrounding him. Keith helped him get dressed and led him outside to regain his bearings. Keith couldn't help but notice how Adam hung back the whole time once Shiro got up. It was odd, considering how much effort Adam had gone through to arrange his rescue, but Keith supposed it made some kind of sense. The two of them didn't exactly leave things on the best of terms. Adam had said as much anyway. So that meant it fell to Keith to check on Shiro.

"I wish I could tell you. My head's still pretty scrambled. I was on an alien ship, but somehow… I escaped. It's all a blur," Shiro admitted. Whatever he went through must have had a serious impact on his mental state if he was having trouble with his memory. Still, he seemed to be acting like himself, at least as far as Keith was concerned. Shiro turned to look at him, genuine curiosity gracing his features, "How did you know to come save me when I crashed?"

"Actually, it wasn't me," Keith admitted reluctantly, "It was Adam. He showed up here at the cabin and told me you were being held by the Garrison."

Shiro scoffed, which was almost a chuckle, "Stubborn as ever," Shiro remarked of the man he once loved, "So are you two actually getting along better these days?"

Adam and Keith had a bit of a strained relationship even before Shiro went into space. They never really saw eye to eye on a lot of things, but there was a level of mutual respect between them at least. The only thing they could really agree on was that they both cared about Shiro. Maybe that was the only reason they tolerated each other. Shiro thought it was funny considering how similar they actually were, although he doubted either of them would ever realize it.

Keith shook his head, "No, not really. If anything, our relationship is worse off since you left. I only listened to him because he had information on where you were, and I needed his help."

Shiro's cool expression turned somber, "You shouldn't be so hard on him," he insisted. It was the same thing Shiro always told him whenever him and Adam were at odds. It made Keith feel a little guilty. All Shiro wanted was for the two of them to get along. But that just wasn't possible. Not anymore. This was about more than just a petty fight or squabble. It was about something Keith didn't think he could ever forgive.

"He gave up on you Shiro. He forced you to choose between him and your dreams. He could have waited for you. He should have waited for you!... It's not right," Keith was adamant in his stance, only turning away slightly because he felt bad about raising his voice in front of Shiro. Although Shiro wasn't sure his outburst was entirely about Adam. The way Keith was acting, it was like he was personally invested in what had happened. But that wasn't true. There had to be something more to it. Shiro decided to let it go for now until he could discern what it was.

He sighed heavily, "It's not that simple Keith. My problems with Adam….. they're not as black and white as they may seem. They're complicated," Keith crossed his arms and looked away, reluctant to accept the idea. Shiro went on, "I know it's easy to make someone else the villain, but he's not the bad guy Keith. You have to understand that relationships are mutual, and ours ended because of the choices that we both made. Okay?"

Keith thought for a moment. He assumed that Shiro would understand where he was coming from, and would inevitably side with him. After all, he was on the receiving end of Adam's unfair choice. But from the way Shiro was acting, the look on his face and the melancholy in his voice, Keith could tell he didn't really blame Adam. He didn't blame him at all. What was the missing piece? And why was Shiro upset that there would be understandable tension between Keith and Adam? It perplexed him, but he decided to concede for now. After all, he owed Shiro so much, he doubted that he would steer him wrong now.

"Sure," Keith agreed with some resentment. Sure, he would try and get along with Adam, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Still, Adam did go to a lot of trouble to get Shiro out of military custody, so Keith supposed he could work with that for now, "But you should talk to him at least," he told Shiro.

"I will," Shiro nodded, relaxing now that Keith had agreed to let things be.

"Come on. You should come see this," Keith said, leading Shiro back into the cabin.

As they entered, Shiro finally had enough of his bearings in place to really absorb his surroundings and the people there. Three young faces he didn't really recognize were all staring up at him as they entered. And then there was Adam. He sat perched on a window sill, looking out at the horizon and intentionally avoiding looking at Shiro. Shiro smiled internally. Adam always brooded when he didn't know how to act or what to do. For being a young prodigy capable of adapting to anything, he was a rather big mess of emotions, and rarely knew how to handle them. He would either explode, screaming and yelling at whatever was the cause of his frustrations, or he would sit around and sulk until he could figure out what to do.

Shiro decided to put that off until Adam was ready to talk. Usually when he got like this he just needed a minute alone with his thoughts before he figured things out. Shiro turned his attention back to Keith, who pulled a sheet off a giant display board that was standing against the wall. On it were pictures and maps with strings connecting them. Sticky notes were plastered to the board too, voicing Keith's thoughts sporadically.

"What have you been working on?" Shiro asked, trying to grasp the purpose of the board.

"I can't explain it, really. After getting booted from the Garrison, I was kind of lost and found myself drawn out to this place," Keith said, pointing out to one of the maps, "It's like something... some energy, was telling me to search."

"For what?" Shiro urged him to continue. Keith smirked. That was one of the reasons he really appreciated Shiro. He never judged Keith for anything he did or said. He was willing to listen to whatever Keith had to say, supporting his choices and showing him how to improve when he was wrong.

"Well, I didn't really know at the time... until I stumbled across this area," Keith flipped the board to reveal the other side, showing pictures of cavern walls and drawings of symbols, "It's an outcropping of giant boulders with caves covered in these ancient markings. Each tells a slightly different story about a blue lion, but they all share clues leading to some kind of convergence event. I was looking over all this when Adam showed up, asking for help to rescue you," Keith said, drawing attention to Adam.

Adam looked over at them as all eyes turned on him. He made eye contact with Shiro for a brief second before he lowered his gaze and turned to look back out the window. Shiro frowned slightly at the reaction, deciding to take it in stride and focus on the others in the room.

"I should thank you all for getting me out. Lance, right?" Shiro said, smiling as he held out his hand to Lance. Shiro didn't actually know him, but he remembered hearing his name when everyone was clamoring around him after having just woken up. He might have been able to catch a few more names if Keith hadn't practically smacked them all and made them give him some space. Lance shot up and gleefully took Shiro's hand, beaming at the acknowledgment.

Pidge came up to next to him and started speaking, "The nervous guy's Hunk. I'm Pidge. So, did anyone else from your crew make it out?"

"I'm not sure," Shiro said, trying to get a hold on his memories, "I remember the mission and being captured. After that, it's just bits and pieces."

Hunk dove in between them before Pidge could follow up, "Yeah, sorry to interrupt, but back to the aliens. Where are they now? Are they coming? Are they coming for us? Like - where are they at this very moment?" Hunk babbled on incessantly, letting his panic and anxiety show.

Shiro spoke calmly so as not to agitate him any further, "I can't really put it together. I remember the word 'Voltron.' It's some kind of weapon they're looking for, but I don't know why. Whatever it is, I think we need to find it before they do."

"Well, last night, I was rummaging through Pidge's stuff, and…"

"Hey, give me that! What were you doing in my stuff?" She screamed, snatching her bag out of Hunk's hands and sitting on the couch.

"I - well, I was looking for a candy bar or something. But, then, I started reading his notebook," Hunk pulled out a small journal from behind his back.

"What?!" Pidge yelled, even more offended than before. She shot up trying to grab the journal back.

Hunk, just held it away from her, continuing on as if she wasn't even there, "And I noticed the repeating series of numbers the aliens are searching for looks a lot like a Fraunhofer line."

"Frown who?" Keith asked. He wasn't the most scientific person. He was more of an instinct type of guy, rather than an educated one.

"It's a number describing the emission spectrum of an element. Only, this element doesn't exist on Earth. I thought it might be this Voltron. And I think can build a machine to look for it, like a Voltron Geiger counter."

"Hunk, you big, gassy genius!" Lance praised.

"It's pretty fascinating, really. The wavelength looks like this" Hunk said, handing Pidge her notebook back and unfolding a piece of paper from his pocket, holding it to show a wave of lines.

"Give me that!" Keith quickly snatched the drawing from Hunk's hands, turning to his board and holding it up to a cave drawing he had taken a picture of. As he held up the drawing, it was clear that it matched one of the symbols drawn on the cavern wall.

"Okay, I admit it. This is super freaky," Lance said, seeming to lose any sense of doubt he might have had over the connection between Keith's search and Voltron.

"It will take awhile to make it though, so everyone just sit tight for a while," Hunk said, grabbing some tools out of Pidge's pack, which he clearly had familiarized himself with.

"If I help, we'll finish quicker," Pidge said, moving to snatch her bag back and gather the necessary materials.

"I'm going to get some fresh air," Adam said to no one in particular, standing up from the windowsill and walking out of the cabin without looking at anyone.

Shiro looked on as Adam left. It was evident that this was all too much for him. One of Adam's habits was to run away from something he just couldn't handle. It didn't happen often considering he had one of the most stubborn personalities that Shiro had ever seen, but when he did, he removed himself from the situation completely. Hell, he even tried to run away from Shiro when they first met. Still, Adam had only prepared himself to rescue Shiro and become a deserter from the Garrison. At no point did he sign on for alien invasions and conspiracy theories. That would be a lot for anybody to take, regardless of who it was. But for Adam, it was an especially painful idea given his past.

"You should go talk to him," Shiro turned to see Keith with a sympathetic look on his face. He could tell just how much Shiro was dying to go and say something to him, but he needed a little push. Shiro was selfless to a fault, and Keith didn't want that to get in the way of a reconciliation that Shiro clearly wanted for himself, "Adam and I may not get along very well, but he did all this for you."

"Yeah," Shiro agreed. Spurred on by Keith's words, Shiro followed Adam outside. Maybe, they could clear the air after all this time.

"Lance, come over here and help me double check these maps," Keith said, wanting to direct attention away from Adam and Shiro so they could have a moment.

As Shiro walked outside, Adam was sitting perched on the hood of his hoverbike. He had his arms crossed across his legs, one hand fidgeting with the ring he wore as a necklace. Adam heard footsteps approaching, but he didn't react.

"Soooo, Keith tells me you're the one who staged my breakout," Shiro said, walking up next to Adam and leaning against the bike.

Adam's body stiffened at the sound of his voice. He turned his head slightly and looked at Shiro out of the corner of his eye, speaking with a flat and unfeeling tone, "Well, I have classes in the morning and was looking for a convenient way to get out of them. Rescuing my supposedly dead ex-boyfriend from the Garrison and becoming a deserter in the process seemed the easiest way to do that. Although, all things considered, maybe I should have just called in sick," he sighed with feigned disinterest and a sarcastic tone. Only Adam could sound that apathetic.

Shiro smiled down at him. Adam always resorted to sarcasm when he was feeling uncomfortable. It was the same way he acted when they first became friends. He only ever did it to cover up the way he really felt. Sometimes it was a little too mean or annoying, but right now, Shiro was just glad that he could be here to hear it all, "I missed you too," Shiro replied, reading into Adam's response.

Adam opened his mouth to say something, but he was at a loss for words. His mouth hung open for a moment before he closed it, water welling up in his eyes. He jumped up from his seated position and pulled Shiro into a fierce hug, making Shiro stumble slightly as the force knocked the wind out of him. Once he regained his composure, he melted into the hug, embracing the warmth of Adam's body. It had been so long since he felt comfort of any kind. His memories were still fuzzy, but everything he could remember was full of pain and suffering. It was so nice to relax in the arms of someone he…..SMACK!

"Ow! What was that for!?" Shiro whined, falling away from the hug and rubbing the top of his head where Adam had just hit him, tears springing to the corners of his eyes in response.

"What was the one thing I told you before you left!?" Adam yelled, his right hand balled in a fist and his expression furious.

"Um, don't go on the mission?" he guessed.

"The other thing!" Adam yelled again.

"I love you…?" Shiro asked, unsure of what he wanted to hear.

"I told you to come back safe you idiot!" Adam yelled even louder, grabbing Shiro by the hem of his shirt and throttling him.

Shiro dropped his hands from his head, placing them on top of Adam's to make him stop, "Well, technically I did come back…" he smiled awkwardly.

Adam scoffed and pushed him away, "Yeah, with a streak of white hair, a robot arm, and, oh yeah, an intergalactic alien threat on your heels!"

Shiro crossed his arms. Okay, this was the part where Adam's outbursts started to get annoying, "Well if this was such a burden on you, why didn't you just let Keith save me?" Shiro said, taking a stab at Adam's ego.

Adam made an offended expression, his words cutting surprisingly deep, "Oh you'd like that wouldn't you? Well if it wasn't for me, that little twink wouldn't have even known you were here! He would just be out in the middle of the desert twiddling away with his maps and drawings like some kind of emo caveman!"

"Well I'm not the one who went running to him for help to save my supposedly 'despised' ex-boyfriend!" Shiro said, making air quotes with his fingers. Adam subconsciously noted the way Shiro's mechanical arm was able to make precise finger movements. But he was too fueled by anger to pay any real attention to it.

"Oh you better believe I despise you for fucking off to space!"

"Really!? Because I seem to remember you crying and throwing a fit begging me to come back!"

"Yeah, and you fucked that up too!"

"How is it my fault that I got captured by aliens?!"

As Shiro and Adam continued to argue, or rather, throw insults and quips at each other, Lance and the others sat on the floor watching them from the window. Keith's attempt to distract them had failed once the yelling had started. However, he decided to stay focused on his work board to figure out where they should start their search.

"So, what's the story there?" Lance asked the room.

"It's none of our business," Keith said flatly, paying no mind to what was going on outside. Even if the others weren't going to give them privacy, he was still going to respect it.

"Looks like a lover's spat," Hunk said. None of them could fully hear what they were saying, but they did manage to catch a loud phrase here and there. And their body language suggested a strong familiarity with each other.

"You think so?" Lance asked, genuinely surprised by the implication.

"Lance, don't you idolize Shiro?" Pidge criticized, "Why don't you know anything about this?"

"Well don't you idolize Adam? How come you don't know anything?!" Lance fired back.

"I only idolize him by reputation. It's a little different. I don't know anything about his personal life," she explained.

"I wonder why we never heard anything about it. They're both basically celebrities at the Garrison," Hunk wondered out loud.

"They were pretty private about their relationship," Keith said, drawing their focus towards him, "Not so much that they were trying to keep it secret, but they wanted to maintain their professionalism in front of others. Besides, they were together for a long time, so it was nothing new for people to gossip about."

"Were together?" Pidge asked.

Keith turned back to his work board, "Like I said, it's their business, not ours"

Shiro and Adam continued their futile tirade at one another. What they were saying didn't really matter. It was more important that they were finally able to vent all the frustations and negative feelings they had been holding onto for the past year. It was therapeutic in a way. Even though they were yelling at each other, it came with a wash of relief from not having to hold anything back anymore.

"What happened to you not being here when I came back, huh!?"

"I was angry at you asshole!" Adam cried.

"So why even make the effort to save me!?"

"Because I…!" Adam stopped, realizing he couldn't say he still loved him. There were way too many complications between them now. The way they had left things had been bittersweet, but that was a year ago. Since then, Adam had gone through various stages of trauma and depression over Shiro's disappearance and presumed death. And now he was still alive, right here in front of Adam, having gone through who knows what since he disappeared. It was impossible to tell how Shiro felt about their relationship now, and Adam knew that his own feelings had changed since then as well. He decided to settle on, "You suck, and I hate you, but I had to make up for my mistakes. I pushed you away. So much so that it ended our relationship. So when I found out you were still alive…..I have too many regrets as it is."

Shiro calmed down as Adam spoke in a more serious and honest tone. Having pushed through his anger, he was finally ready to tell the truth, "Adam, it wasn't your fault. It was my choice to leave."

"You know damn well that's not the whole story Shiro," he chastised.

Shiro was taken aback by his response, "Shiro?" the sound of his own name on Adam's tongue bothered him. It sounded like a foreign word coming from him, and Shiro would be lying if he said it didn't hurt a little, "You haven't called me that in years."

Adam looked at him with a somber honesty, "Doesn't really seem appropriate to keep calling you Takashi when we're not together anymore," he leaned back against his bike, starting to fidget with his necklace again. Shiro understood, but it still hurt. He watched as Adam twirled his fingers on the chain around his neck.

"What's that?" Shiro asked, trying to steer the conversation away from something so painfully awkward.

Adam followed Shiro's gaze to the ring he was spinning in his fingers. He dropped it, letting it fall against his chest, "It's my stress toy," he said defensively.

"I just don't remember you ever wearing it before," Shiro told him, sensing the impertinence in his voice. He didn't want to come off as judgmental or accusing, he was just genuinely curious.

Adam sighed, realizing he was being too oversensitive, "Well after you left, I couldn't keep wearing your dog tags around my neck. It was…. too much," he turned his head to the desert horizon so he wouldn't have to look at Shiro as he spoke.

"They're not just my dog tags Adam," Shiro reminded him.

"I didn't want to keep wearing a memento of everything I'd lost," Adam cut in, "I wanted to hold onto what I had, and all the good times we spent together. Wearing those tags just kept reminding me of the pain. So, I took them off. But I felt like I was missing something without them on, so I bought this instead," he said, motioning toward the ring around his neck, "And then I just kinda, developed a habit of fidgeting with it whenever I need to take my mind off things. And it helped keep me from giving into bad habits."

Bad habits? Shiro wondered what that could mean. Maybe Adam was drinking too much? Could the serious and responsible coffee drinker have given into the temptation of alcohol while Shiro was gone? Or was it something even worse than that? Shiro decided it was probably best if he didn't know. Adam didn't seem to want to talk about it anyway.

"What'd you do with the dog tags?" he asked.

Adam looked up at Shiro, looking a little mortified before reaching into his pocket and pulling out two metal tags on a chain, "I guess I couldn't let them go after all, huh? Pain must just be a part of who I am," he reached out for Shiro's human hand and held it up, placing the tags in his palm, "Here."

Shiro was a little astonished, trying to refuse what he had given him, "Adam, I can't. They have your…"

"Please," Adam said, a desperate look on his face as he held his hand over the tags in Shiro's palm, "Hang on to them for me, and then you can give them back after everything has settled down. Because I know if you owe me something, you'll have to come back to give it to me," Adam moved his hand away, leaving the tags in Shiro's hand. He then cleared his throat, his cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, "After all, it'd be a pain in the ass to have to go and rescue you again. I doubt I'd work up the motivation to do it again. I can't be bothered with those kinds of things all the time."

Shiro chuckled lightly, "I thought you didn't believe in things like fate and such?"

"I don't. But I believe in people having to pay back their debts. Especially when they're debts owed to me," he sneered.

Shiro laughed, "Okay. I'll hang on to them." He looped the chain over his neck, putting the dog tags on and tucking them under the collar of his shirt to hide them from sight. Shiro pulled Adam in for a proper hug, one that didn't result in any physical pain. As they parted Shiro noted how Adam seemed to tower over him ever so slightly. Things really had changed. He remembered how they used to be the same height, "You've gotten taller."

"I guess so…. You've gotten stronger," Adam pointed to Shiro's frame, taking the attention off himself, "Your shoulders are broader."

"Are they?" Shiro asked, not really having noticed the difference. He turned his head to look at his own body. He hadn't really paid much attention to his physical state other than to stay alive while he was being held prisoner. As Adam looked him over, he realized that maybe Shiro's old clothes wouldn't have fit him so well anymore. Maybe it was for the best that he forgot to bring them. But what started as a passive observation became a genuine curiosity. Shiro's body was more muscular and broad than it used to be, and Shiro's disease should have advanced to a stage that would prevent that from happening.

"I thought that wasn't possible given your condition," Adam asked, starting to let his medical expertise take over.

"I don't know. I think they did something to me. Something to slow the progression of my disease," Shiro said, holding up his metal arm, as it was the most noticeable change to his anatomy, and the one where he used to inject his medication.

Adam grabbed ahold of Shiro's arm and looked it over as he spoke, "It would explain why they replaced it with such a sophisticated prosthetic. I took a look at it while you were unconscious,"

"Diagnosis?" Shiro asked, curious as to what Adam thought about it.

"It's fully functional. Considering it can make precise movements it must have some form of a neural link to your brain," Adam was a jack of all trades when it came to academic accomplishments, but one of his greatest talents was his medical expertise. It was a way that he could care for people and have complete control over the outcome. Any good psychologist would say it was his way of compensating for the horrible things that happened to the people he cared about. But really, he just had a natural talent for it. Shiro recognized that it was one thing that Adam really enjoyed without feeling like he had to play it off.

"Also, there's hardly any scaring around the area where it is attached to your body," Adam went on, "So that suggests it increases your body's ability to repair damage. I'm assuming you weren't able to take your medication while being held prisoner, so whatever this arm is doing for your body, I have to assume it's what's suppressing your condition. But these are all superficial guesses. I can't say anything for sure without a proper lab or supplies," he looked up at Shiro, who's gaze was transfixed on him. He watched the way Adam carefully looked over every detail of his arm, tracing his finger over the lines where the plates joined together. Adam felt a rush of embarrassment, his cheeks flushing red as he let go of Shiro's arm and stepped back, "Sorry."

Shiro gave a warm and comforting smile, "It's okay. I'm happy to see you again, even if you're not entirely happy to see me."

Adam started to fidget with his necklace, "I wouldn't say that."

Shiro nodded his head toward the cabin, "Come on. Let's go back inside with the others."

Adam followed after him, feeling a little more at ease with himself knowing that Shiro was okay and that they had a chance to talk. Sure, they hadn't talked about everything they needed to, but they managed to get a lot of their frustrations off their chest. Or at the very least, Adam did. And that would have to do for now. Because despite the fact that Adam wanted no part of the alien threat that Shiro had brought with him, he wasn't going to let him go at it alone with a bunch of wayward kids. Shiro was the most important person in his life. Whether they were together or not, he wasn't going to lose him again. And he would do anything to make sure that didn't happen. Anything.

 **VVVVVVVV**

As Pidge and Hunk finished up the device to help them detect the wavelengths that Keith had been tracking, they decided to take some time to rest first before heading out. Their run from the Garrison had kept them awake all the way into the next day. Of course, most of them were running high on adrenaline and the mystery that was set out before them. It would still take some time before they were tracked down by the Garrison forces, so they had a little bit of leeway.

As Adam lay on Keith's couch, he hoped that Veronica would keep his secret. If she decided to rat him out, then Iverson would send out forces after any of his known associates. That would lead them right here to Keith's cabin, since he had a history with Keith, thanks to Shiro. Not only that, but they might even detain and question his closest friends. Adam's stomach turned at the thought of Jason or Phil being taken in without even knowing why. He thought about the expression on their faces when they learned that Adam had gone missing and was most likely a fugitive and a deserter.

Adam shook his head. This was the plan. This is what he had to do. He had to leave his friends behind. And because he didn't tell them anything about where he was going, they would be safe. It was the best thing he could do for them. He couldn't fall into his regrets now.

As the others awoke, they began to prep for their departure. Adam loaded up his duffel bag and satchel. Keith brought a pack, and Pidge stored some extra water and food in hers. The others didn't have anything to carry though, seeing as their involvement in the rescue attempt was a last-minute fluke. Keith grabbed one of the maps off his board, laying out the best path to one of the caves that had drawings in it. Adam wasn't really sure what they would find, but the pieces seemed to be falling into place, at least from a logical standpoint.

Finishing their preparations, they all got back on Adam and Keith's hoverbikes to set out on their path to the caves. Adam offered to let Shiro drive his, thinking it might be relaxing for him after everything he went through. Shiro just politely shook his head. Adam jumped onto his bike, the others getting into the same formation as they did before. Shiro got on behind Adam, wrapping his arms around his waist. Adam's breath hitched at his touch, as he hadn't expected such an intimate embrace so suddenly. He could almost feel Shiro smiling behind him from his reaction. Cheeky bastard! If he thinks he can just pull that crap, he's got another thing coming! Pidge climbed on behind Shiro, setting her hands on his shoulders before they all took off for the caves. Keith sped off first, Adam following closely behind him as they made their way.

 **VVVVVVVV**

It didn't take long to reach the caves. Keith had obviously been there dozens of times as his maneuvers through the complex valleys were practiced and steady. It was easy to see why the caverns had gone unnoticed for so long. When everything more or less looks the same, it can be nearly impossible to spot anything significant. It was like looking for a needle in a stack of needles.

As they all followed Keith inside, Hunk started tuning the device him and Pidge had made. Adam and Pidge brought their packs just in case since they had no way to gauge just how deep the caves would run.

"I'm getting a reading," he said, moving to the front of the pack to lead. Keith and Pidge were hot on his heels, while Lance hung back to chat with, Adam and Shiro.

"So Adam, you and Shiro used to date?" he asked, taking an interest in their obvious displays of tension. The fight outside the cabin and the way Adam cringed up when Shiro got on behind hm was more than enough to pique his interest. He knew they had been together after what Keith had told him, but there was something way more complicated going on now. And with nothing better to do, he might as well try to get the whole story.

"Yeah, back during our Garrison days," Adam confirmed, "That was until someone ran off on a space mission," he side-eyed Shiro as he spoke.

"You know, it wasn't exactly a picnic for me up there," Shiro responded, unamused.

"Yeah, you were up there battling against an evil alien race. I bet you met some cute renegade space soldier and hooked up with him too, right?" Adam said with a bored tone. He had recited the basic plot of almost every sci-fi action flick, and it was just too predictable for him. All that was missing was an intergalactic space princess and he could chalk up their current situation to a B-movie space adventure.

"What? No, I was fighting for my life," Shiro said a little bewildered, dumbfounded that Adam thought he could even have the time for romance. Sometimes Adam came up with the most ridiculous things. Emotional and distressed Adam? Shiro could read him like a book. But calm and composed Adam? He might as well be a mystery book written in French.

Upon hearing Shiro's response Adam burst out in a fit of joy, jumping on Shiro's back and wrapping his arms around him, "Oh Takashi, you really are faithful!"

Shiro and Lance stopped as Adam pulled himself into a piggyback position on Shiro's back. Shiro didn't really seem to be bothered by Adam's weight, but he was completely confused by his weird behavior. Just a few hours ago Adam made it clear that they were no longer together, and that he was still upset over Shiro leaving for space. Now he was acting like his friend Jason all of a sudden, who had a reputation for being so bright and cheerful that he would tackle people to the ground in excitement. Adam's friends must have rubbed off on him more than he realized during the year they were apart. Lance just stood and watched, enthralled by the strange display.

"What? But… we broke up?" Shiro struggled to find the words for this weird situation as he turned his head to look at Adam.

"Yeah, but I still wouldn't have approved," he responded flatly, staring Shiro straight in the eye.

"Wha…" Shiro's mouth hung open, his brain seeming to malfunction at Adam's response.

Lance took note of how Adam was able to render Shiro speechless. There was definitely a long and complicated history here. They claimed that they weren't together anymore, but they also seemed to be at their most comfortable around the other. Adam had literally jumped on Shiro's back, and Shiro didn't make one remark or objection toward that fact. He just held him there. Their relationship was so strange, it was like watching a soap opera. It was just way too interesting!

Their attention was pulled back to the others as they heard Hunk's device beeping up ahead.

"Whoa!" Hunk and Pidge exclaimed.

Lance and Shiro rushed forward to catch up with the others. As Shiro broke into a jog, Adam lost his grip and fell to the ground with an, "oufff!"

Catching up to the main group, they saw the intricate cave drawings covering the walls. A mix of symbols and lion depictions decorated the cavern. It was one thing to see them in the pictures, but it was quite another to see it in person. It was mesmerizing in its own way, to see the intricacy of art displayed in such an encompassing manner. All the time and work it must have taken to tell the story it was trying to convey. It was… beautiful.

"These are the lion carvings I was telling you about. They're everywhere around here," Keith stated.

"Ow, damn it. Get back here!" Adam called out, picking himself up off the floor and dusting off his clothes before running after them. Before he could berate Shiro for dropping him, Lance touched one of the cave drawings, making the whole cavern light up as each drawing glowed a bright blue.

"Whoa. Whoa!" Lance fell back on his behind in surprise.

"They've never done that before!" Keith exclaimed.

As they all stood in awe of the luminescent cave drawings, the floor beneath them began to glow as well. It formed a perfect circle before cracking and caving in. They all fell through the hole, hitting a slope deep within the cavern that had water running down it from some hidden stream. It was like a makeshift waterslide. They all screamed as they slid down the slope, caught off guard by the floor literally giving way under them and having no idea where they were going to end up.

Hitting the ground sooner than expected, the slide ended and opened up into a large pond. They all splashed into the water in a pile, drenching their clothes and supplies. Adam fell into the deepest part, completely soaking everything, even his satchel bag. He sat up out of the water, taking off his glasses and trying to dry them off to no avail. Shiro had plummeted face down next to him. He lay there in the water for a moment, unmoving, before shooting straight up on his hands and knees gasping for breath.

"Shiro, hold still," Adam said, grabbing the collar of Shiro's shirt and drying his glasses off on it. He put them back on and readjusted them, "Thanks."

"I almost just drowned. Were you really going to leave me?" Shiro raised an eyebrow in irritation.

"What? You got up okay," he said simply.

"Guys," Lance said, making them all look up at him. He was the first one on his feet and was standing at the edge of the puddle. They all rose and stood behind him, looking ahead to see the incredible sight before them.

They stood in a giant open cavern. At the other side was a giant mechanical blue lion. It was surrounded by a large blue transparent orb. It was amazing, and so unreal. If it wasn't so prominently displayed right in front of him, Adam wasn't sure if he'd even believe it. It must have been some kind of attack vehicle for land-based combat based on its design. But then how did it get to Earth if it was alien tech like Shiro claimed? And how long was it here for? Adam couldn't see any openings in the cavern as far as he could tell. Was it possible it's been here so long that the rocks built up and formed around it?

"Is this it? Is this the Voltron?" Pidge wondered aloud.

"It must be," Shiro told her.

"This is what's been causing all of this crazy energy out here. Looks like there's a force field around it," Keith observed. It was strange to admit, but Keith was absolutely right. Although, that in itself was sort of strange. How did Keith know to search out here in the first place? If it wasn't for Hunk's device, they may not have stumbled across the blue lion. And yet, Keith had been in these caves dozens of times already. He said that something drew him out here, but he never said how or why. Was the Blue Lion exerting so much energy that Keith was able to sense it out in the desert alone? The questions and variables were endless.

Lance swayed back and forth as they walked toward the mechanical marvel, "Does anyone else get the feeling this is staring at them?"

Shiro and Adam looked up at its eyes, squinting before they both responded, "Mm... No."

"Yeah. The eyes are totally following me," he insisted, walking from side to side as if he was trying to escape its gaze.

"I wonder how we get through this," Keith said, all of them coming to a stop just in front of the blue force field.

"Maybe you just have to knock," Lance walked straight up to the field and knocked twice before anyone could warn him. The field could have been electrocuted for all they knew, lucklily for Lance, it wasn't. Surprisingly though, his knocking actually worked. With a loud pulsing sound, the energy field dropped, completely disappearing in front of them.

The floor beneath it light up as well. Adam thought for a moment that it might collapse again, but then like a rush of wind, a wave of energy surged over them. The lion's eyes shone a bright yellow, and it was like they could all see the same thing. The lion was sending out a psychic signal to all of them. They could see that there was more than just this blue lion, but there were four more lions as well. Each one a different color and all of them capable of soaring through the air. Overtaken by the energy, they were all shone an image of the lions merging together, forming a giant humanoid robot.

As the images ceased, the room quieted down, and the energy stopped.

"Whoa," they all exclaimed.

"Uh, did everyone just see that?" Lance asked, unsure if the psychic vision he had just seen was shared among the group or not.

"Voltron is a robot! Voltron is a huge, huge, awesome robot!" Hunk spat out without missing a beat or taking a breath.

"And this thing is only one part of it! I wonder where the rest of them are," Pidge inquired.

Shiro stepped forward, "This is what they're looking for."

Adam looked on with some reservations. He knew that tone. He knew, that this had become Shiro's mission now. Wherever this was about to take him, he was going to follow through with it to the end. It was the one thing Shiro had over everyone else. Belief.

The lion whirred and moved, lowering its head right in front of them and opening its mouth. The bottom panel of its mouth unfolded into a ramp, laying out a cargo entrance for them all to enter it.

Lance, who was already ahead of the pack, decided to be the first one to jump inside. He made his way straight up to the head of the lion. It looked like a cockpit, with one chair set in the center and a control board a bit too far up ahead from the seat. Straight ahead was a black screen that must have somehow indicated what was in front of them. Kinda like a tank, Lance assumed.

"Mmm... hmm. Here we go," he said, sitting down in the chair. Once his butt hit the seat, the chair rushed forward making Lance scream like a girl from the unexpected movement. He soon realized he was in front of the control board, and he leaned forward to look at it. A hologram screen came up in front of him, and the front wall that had looked like a black screen transformed into an image of the cavern in front of them. The others huddled around Lance, cramming themselves into the small space.

"Okay, guys, I feel the need to point out, just so that we're all, you know, aware. We are in some kind of futuristic alien cat head right now," Hunk said.

It was true, if not a little obvious. If only that was the strangest thing that had happened recently. Honestly this was just a check on the list of weird coincidences at this point. The others just let Hunk talk, but didn't really feel the need to comment on it.

Lance suddenly felt himself being pulled forward, yet he remained still in his seat. He could almost feel something washing over him, a deep purr ringing in his ears like a far away echo.

"Whoa. Did you guys just hear that?" Lance exclaimed.

"Hear what?" Keith asked, as him and the others seemed to have no idea to what Lance was referring to.

"I-I think it's talking to me," Lance told them.

 _Great, giant mechanical robot also speaks to people telepathically. Check_. Adam mentally noted.

Lance examined the controls and pressed several buttons. The lion stood and roared, making the head shake from the vibrations. Pidge and Hunk exclaimed their surprise, while Keith, Shiro, and Adam just watched on from behind him.

"Okay. Got it. Now, let's try this!" Lance grabbed the two handles on either side of his seat and pushed them forward.

The blue lion took off, crashing through the rock wall of the cavern and speeding off into the sky. The lion spun around until it was upright, thrusters shooting out from beneath its paws and launching it upward. The lion spun around unpredictably with Lance at the controls. Adam braced himself against the wall and Shiro's metal arm, which he had placed against the ceiling. Keith was leaning into Shiro for support while trying to hold onto Hunk. Pidge was pulling on Lance's hoodie to keep from falling while he was sat somewhat uncomfortably in his chair, with Hunk pulling on his hair for his own stability.

Pidge and Hunk screamed the loudest, while Adam and Shiro gritted their teeth to brace themselves. This thing didn't look like it could fly. Psychic vision or not, how could any of them predicted that!? Keith screamed at Lance, "You are - the worst - pilot - ever!"

They all continued to scream as the lion touched down to Earth and began running across the open desert plains. It evened out the lion, and they no longer had to struggle for balance.

"Isn't this awesome?" Lance shouted with glee. He was getting a thrill out of this. It was a freedom like no other. The kind he had always suspected flying would give him.

"Make it stop. Make it stop," Hunk cried, his eyes watering and looking like he was about to be sick. Which was nothing new. It was just surprising he hadn't puked yet.

"I'm not making it do anything. It's like it's on autopilot," he explained. The lion jumped back into the air, and the thrusters came back on, shooting the lion toward the atmosphere.

"Where are you going?"

"I just said it's on autopilot! It says there's an alien ship approaching Earth. I think we're supposed to stop it."

"What did it say, exactly?" Pidge spoke with some irritation, holding herself in a bracing position in case they started to spin again.

"And when did it say it!?" Adam yelled. He was getting real tired of this. How had saving his ex-boyfriend turned into such a complicated mess!?

"Well it's not like it's saying words, more like feeding ideas into my brain, kind of," Lance said, obviously unsure of how it was working himself.

"Well if this thing is the weapon they're coming for, why don't we just, I don't know, give it to them? Maybe they'll leave us alone. Sorry, lion. Nothing personal," Hunk reasoned. He didn't have the heart for battle, that much was clear. He must have been an engineer, or something to that affect considering his knowledge in science and mechanics.

Shiro spoke with a heated fervor, "You don't understand. These monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path. There's no bargaining with them. They won't stop until everything is dead."

Hearing Shiro's description of this alien race, the others glared at Hunk in disappointment.

"Oh. Never mind then," he raised his hand in surrender, not realizing how bad giving up would be in this situation.

As they broke the atmosphere and hovered in deep space, a giant alien ship appeared out of nowhere in front of them. It was like it had traveled so fast that it was suddenly just there. The design was long, and not very practical. It was probably a command ship of some sort.

"They found me," Shiro whispered to himself. He seemed more than familiar with this kind of ship. Keith thought it was curious. Shiro told him how much of a hard time he was having to remember what happened to him, but it looked like he was getting those memories back quickly.

Floated adrift in space, the alien ship fired energy blasts from its starboard side directly at them. Thanks to the distance and how relatively small the lion was, the shots missed them, but surrounded them as well.

"We've got to get out of here!" Pidge screamed, being the first one to be the voice of reason.

"Hang on!" Lance punched the controls as everyone braced themselves again. He managed to dodge the blasts and gain some distance from the assailant by zig zagging through them. It was sloppy, but effective.

"All right. Okay, I think I know what to do." Lance turned the lion back around to face the ship, flying forward toward it.

"Be careful, man. This isn't a simulator," Pidge screamed.

Lance laughed, "Well, that's good. I always wreck the simulator."

"Oh that's comforting!" Adam said sarcastically. How could this kid be smiling right now!?

"Let's try this," Lance punched one of the throttles forward, making the lion open its mouth and shoot out a giant blue laser. The laser cut across the starboard side of the alien ship, causing small explosions to erupt from the damaged areas.

The ship shot out another stream of blasts from the front end of their ship, which Lance managed to quickly dodge by diving forward underneath it. The lion swiveled up, landing on the enemy ship and dragging its claws across the surface, breaching the hull and creating more explosions in their wake.

"Nice job, Lance," Shiro praised. Lance was rough around the edges, but he had talent. Shiro was always good at seeing the best in people and what they were capable of. It was one of his best and most frustrating qualities in Adam's opinion.

"Okay, I think it's time to get these guys away from our planet," Lance turned the lion. Having more than captured their attention he zoomed as far away from Earth as he could, as fast as possible. Yet, somehow, the were immediately pursued. How could such a large ship turn and follow them so quickly? It was almost inconceivable.

"They're gaining on us," Pidge warned, keeping an eye on their pursuers.

"It's weird. They're not trying to shoot us. They're just chasing," Lance observed.

"Okay, seriously, now we think having aliens follow us is good? I am not on board with this new direction, guys," Hunk whined.

Adam leaned forward over Lance to address Hunk, "Shiro said they want the lions, right? Shooting us down didn't work, so they're going to tail us until they can figure out a way to catch us."

"Where are we?" Keith asked, unfamiliar with all the open space around them.

Shiro looked around, pointing out a planet covered in ice ahead of them, "Edge of the solar system. There's Kerberos."

"It takes months for our ships to get out this far. We got out here in five seconds!" Pidge was astounded. The capabilities of this lion were absolutely incredible!

"Kerberos…" Adam stared wide eyed at the icy blue planet. Seeing the cause for so much of his pain, it was haunting. So much loss, just to get here. To a tiny little blue rock you couldn't even see from the sky. And yet for this feat of alien tech, it was like it was nothing at all. What was his life anymore?

"Adam?...Adam?" Shiro called out to him, shaking him out of his daze.

Adam shook his head free from his thoughts, "Sorry…. I'm fine," he lied.

Once he finished speaking, a wormhole opened up in front of them, just past the ice planet. It was strange though. The wormhole was a swirl of purple, surrounded by what looked like a blue circle composed of symbols. It looked like a magic circle or something. No. An alchemist circle would be more fitting. Adam would have found it hard to believe, but at this point, he was pretty much ready to take anything on as truth. If someone where to tell him werewolves were real, now would be the time that he'd probably believe it.

"What is that?" Hunk panicked.

"Uh, this may seem crazy, but I think the lion wants us to go through there!" Lance told them.

"Where does it go?" Pidge asked. It was a good question. This wormhole just appeared out of nowhere. They could end up inside a black hole or in an active volcano for all they knew. How could they trust the psychic advice of a giant mechanical vehicle?

"I-I don't know," Lance admitted with some hesitance, "Shiro, you're the senior officer here. What should we do?

"I still outrank you?" Shiro said with surprise as he turned to Adam. With Shiro supposedly dead and gone, the Garrison should have offered him his position. Adam was easily the best pilot after Shiro, it would only make sense to do so. So why wasn't he?

"They offered me your position as first officer, but I turned it down."

"But you…"

"Shiro," Lance interrupted with some urgency. There was definitely more to that conversation, but they were all running out of time as the lion drew closer to the wormhole.

"Uh, sorry," Shiro refocused his efforts on the situation at hand, "Whatever is happening, the lion knows more than we do. I say we trust it, but we're a team now. We should decide together."

"Well I guess we don't have any other choice," Adam conceded. The others nodded in agreement. Seriously!? If this situation wasn't so crazy already, he would seriously question the sanity of everyone here. But there weren't a lot of options. Going back to Earth would just draw fire and attention to it. And despite the damage Lance had already done, it was doubtful they could take down that giant ship before getting blown out of the sky or captured themselves.

"All right. Guess we're all ditching class tomorrow," Lance pushed forward on one of the controls, making the lion accelerate toward the wormhole. The alien ship that had been hot on their heels sped up to follow closely behind, obviously having figured out what they were planning to do. Lance zoomed ahead as fast as he could, and as they drew closer the wormhole started to get smaller. It was closing! If they could just get inside right before it closed, they could escape the alien ship.

Adam closed his eyes and braced himself, his grip on Shiro's metal arm tightening. It was a good thing Shiro couldn't feel anything in that arm. Wait, could he? Adam would have contemplated the question longer if he hadn't heard a loud whooshing sound that caused him to open his eyes. They were inside the portal, surrounded by massive waves of energy that formed the wormhole. They looked behind them and had obviously outrun the enemy ship. Unfortunately, the portal entrance had also disappeared, and that meant one thing. There was no going back.

 **AUTHOR NOTE** : I was trying to get to Allura by the end of this chapter, but my writing went on way longer than I expected. So next time we'll get Allura and the castle of Lions. Once we get through the introductions and paladin assignments, I'm going to start getting into more unique and interesting stories as they apply to Adam.  
And for anyone wondering why I featured Jason and Phil so prominently in Adam's story, since I am expanding upon his character it only makes sense to give attention to his own friends and people that care about him.  
Stay tuned for the next update! I'm hoping to update at least one or two more times before the final season comes out.


	4. The Castle of Lions

**Chapter 3: The Castle of Lions**

After escaping into the wormhole, Adam and the others seemed to float within the swirling vortex with no concept of where they were going. It only took a few moments before another portal opened up in front of them. As they plunged through it, they found themselves back in the deep darkness of space. They didn't really have a concept of where they were right now, but at least they weren't being pursued anymore.

Lance breathed a heavy sigh, "Whoa. That was..."

Hunk groaned, throwing his head toward the ground and throwing up.

"I'm just surprised it took this long," Pidge quipped.

"Aw man, you got some on my shoe," Adam whined, stepping away from Hunk as much as the space would allow.

"The lion seems to want to go to this planet. I think... I think it's going home," Lance said. The lion was flying very fast toward a large planet that had a topography similar to Earth's. It looked like there was water and land as they descended onto it. If the land masses weren't a distinctly different shape, they might have mistaken it for Earth.

"Is this really the best plan? We have no idea what's on this planet, or how far from home we are," Adam asked.

"It got us away from that alien warship, didn't it?" Lance reasoned out, not seeming to think of much beyond the immediate danger they just escaped.

"I don't know if you noticed, but we're _in_ an alien warship," Keith countered, his voice sarcastic and flat.

"Oh, are you scared?" Lance taunted. The rivalry he had built up in his head made him more irritable towards Keith. As someone who actually had animosity and tension with Keith, Adam could relate.

"With you at the helm? Terrified," Keith spat back. Well, the kid knew how to give a solid comeback.

"All right, knock it off," Shiro cut in, getting annoyed at the bickering cadets, "No one's happy to be in this situation, but we're here now. If we want to get through this, we've got to do it together."

As the lion descended into the atmosphere, they could see all manners of plant life and rock formations on the ground. Waterfalls and rivers could be seen cascading across the landscape. It looked so much like their home planet, but something felt off about it. Like there was something hanging in the air telling them that this wasn't really their home. And while it may have looked the same, there was no denying that this place was alien.

Pidge looked around the beautiful landscape, taking in the scenery before her, "So, what do we do?"

"First, we find out where we're headed. Lance?" Shiro asked, already falling into a leadership role among the group of teens. Adam didn't mind. He didn't even want to be out here in space anyway. It was best that Shiro take charge, for multiple reasons.

Lance looked back and forth between his holographic monitor and the view in front of him, "I.. don't know. I'm sorry. The lion's not talking to me anymore. Wait! Wait, wait, wait there's a castle up ahead!"

They all looked dead ahead, and sure enough, there was an incredibly large castle standing on a giant mesa that was surrounded by deep canyons. A large bridge was the only thing that connected it to the land mass across the canyons. The castle was elegant. It had 4 white towers surrounding one large tower in the center, all of them decorated with blue accents. The shape was a little strange, a sleek design that reflected the futuristic technology that it no doubt had.

Lance and the others all gaped in awe. It was quite a sight to see. Adam on the other hand, just felt uncomfortable. And Shiro, well he wasn't feeling much better.

"Keep your guard up," Shiro warned, not wanting the group to get too lax and comfortable in the light of all these amazing things that were happening around them.

"Something wrong?" Pidge asked concerned.

Shiro spoke seriously, "My crew was captured by aliens once. I'm not going to let it happen again." Adam looked over at Shiro, seeing the look of determination on his face. His brows were furrowed, and his jaw was set. Seeing him like that, it shot a pang through Adam's heart.

The lion landed at the foot of the castle, dropping its head and opening it's mouth back up to form a ramp to the ground once again. They all filed out, stepping in front of the castle to see what was awaiting them. As they approached the doors, the lion rose to its feet and roared, startling them all.

"No, no! I knew it was going to eat us!" Hunk screamed, bracing himself to be attacked. Pidge and Lance stepped back, while Adam, Keith, and Shiro got into defensive stances.

But the lion did nothing but settle back down into a seated position. Instead, a luminous glow behind them caught their attention. They turned around to see the large castle door glowing, blue lines illuminated the door as it opened along those lines. The slabs of the door disappeared into the walls, setting into place and creating a large open doorway that even the Blue Lion could fit through.

"From the size of the lion, I expected these steps to be bigger," Pidge commented as they walked up the stairs to the entrance.

Entering the castle, they were greeted to the sight of a large and dark hallway. It was even taller than the door leading inside, and there were no windows to let in natural light. The hall was dimly lit by the sun at their backs, giving the inside an ominous vibe. Stepping into the castle, a bright light beamed from the ceiling down on all of them like a spotlight. Everyone froze in place, waiting to see what this would do.

A monotone female voice emanated from the castle, "Hold for identity scan."

"Why are we here? What do you want with us?" Shiro called up to the voice, hoping it was capable of giving them answers. However, the voice did not respond. It was very likely just an automated computer system rather than a sophisticated A.I. And the voice was too robotic to be a person, unless this planet was full of robotic humanoid people. Adam shook off that thought, things were already weird enough.

The beam of light dissipated and giant cylinders along the hallway walls lit up, making the path ahead of them visible. It was strange, the lights were dim, but somehow the entire hallway was brightly lit.

"I guess we're going that way," Pidge said. She was right. What other options did they really have other than to just go forward? It's not like they could get back home from here. They didn't even know where home was! Everything that had been happening for the past hour had just been a series of coincidental circumstances leading them here. From finding the Blue Lion, warping through a wormhole, and now finding a mysterious castle. How could they possibly get back from here?

"I've seen horror movies like this you know," Adam said. Being stranded on an alien planet and led down mysterious hallways? Adam wouldn't be surprised if they were captured and thrown into pods where their bodies would be used to incubate and hatch alien monsters.

"You want to wait back at the lion?" Shiro asked slyly, already knowing the answer.

"Are you kidding me? I'm not staying behind with that thing! And I'll be damned if I'm the first to die out of you pack of losers," he declared.

"Hey!" Pidge exclaimed, surprisingly taking the most offense. He would have thought it would be Lance, or that at least Shiro or Keith would come up with a witty retort. Still, Pidge was likely the smartest out of the bunch, and she did have respect for Adam and his reputation.

"Well, okay, you're kinda cool," Adam smirked at her. Pidge smiled smugly, adjusting her glasses to acknowledge her appreciation.

Suddenly, Lance slid out in front of them, striking a pose with his arms to draw attention to his sparkling smile, "Obviously I'm one of the cool ones," he announced.

Everyone stood there just staring at him. Keith opened his mouth to respond, but Shiro nudged him with his shoulder to cut him off, clearly aware of the insult that was about to come out of his mouth. Adam wasn't too sure what to say himself. Lance was an amusing guy, but his cool guy antics needed work, "Ehhh, you're pending," he settled on.

"What about me?" Hunk asked, feeling left out of Adam's ranking system. Pidge having lost interest in the conversation walked past them both and went on ahead, leaving the others behind.

Adam stared at Hunk apathetically, crossing his arms across his chest, "You puked on my shoe."

Hunk nodded, "Yeah… that's fair."

"Hello?!" Pidge called out from ahead, her voicing echoing through the empty halls. The sound of her voice recaptured everyone's attention back to the task at hand. They followed after her, coming across a winding staircase that went down into a dark unknown. Aside from Hunk, who was very clear about his reservations to head down into what was the horror movie equivalent of a serial killer's basement, they all went ahead without much hesitation.

The room at the bottom of the stairs was incredibly large and open. Except for the lights behind them, it was completely dark, making it hard to see their surroundings. At the center of the room was a small podium that looked like some kind of control console, the soft glow of the screen making it discernable in the darkness.

"Where are we?" Lance inquired.

Pidge walked up to the podium, getting a sense for what it did. She noticed there were symbols on the small hologram, "It's.. some kind of control room," she assessed. As she approached it, the console lit up, "Whoa!"

In a sudden rush, the whole room was filled with light, and two large pods rose out of the ground from behind them. They had ascended out of circular panels in the floor that had surrounded the center console. Shiro, Adam and Keith got into defensive stances, ready to fight in case it was some kind of defense system. Hunk and Lance huddled around Pidge protectively.

The glass on the pods was foggy, but also slightly translucent, letting them see a rough silhouette of two humanoid shapes inside. They looked frozen, completely unmoving. If these were the alien incubation pods Adam was thinking about earlier, he was going to grab Shiro and run like hell.

"Are these guys... dead?" Hunk asked, slowly approaching one of the pods.

Lance walked over to the other, and as he did so, the glass of the pod seemed to vanish completely. It disintegrated away, almost like magic. But that couldn't be possible, could it? Maybe the futuristic tech here had come up with a way to change the composition of atoms?

The young woman inside gasped as her eyes shot open, reaching out immediately and calling out, "Father!"

She lost her footing, falling into Lance's arms. Everyone froze, waiting to see what this new encounter would entail. As she looked up at him, Lance was finally able to get a good look at her. She had a dark complexion and light blue markings under her eyes. Her ears were pointy like an elf, and her hair was pure white and incredibly long. She wore a beautifully long flowing blue dress with white accents.

Taking in her stunning appearance and beauty, Lance smiled in a charming and comforting way, "Hello."

"Wow. Five seconds and he's already hit on his first alien. Maybe he is cool," Adam remarked from behind them, complimenting the bold move.

Slowly beginning to understand that things weren't the same as she remembered them, the young woman looked around and then back up at Lance, "Who are you? Where am I?" she spoke in a subtle accent that sounded almost British.

Lance continued to speak in a seductive tone, "I'm Lance. And you're right here in my arms."

"Your ears…."

"Yeah?"

"They're hideous. What's wrong with them?" she said, letting go of Lance and stepping back from him.

Lance dropped his seductive voice and fell into a whiny high pitch, "Nothing's wrong with them! They heard exactly what you said about them!"

Seeming to take his raised voice as threatening, the woman grabbed Lance by the arm and spun him around, shoving it against his back and putting him in a hold, dropping Lance to his knees, "Who are you? Where is King Alfor? What are you doing in my castle?"

"A giant blue lion brought us here! That's all we know!" Lance cried out.

That seemed to upset the woman even more, "How do you have the Blue Lion? What happened to its paladin? What are you all doing here? Unless... How long has it been?"

Shiro stepped forward, his deep but calming voice cutting through the tension, "We don't know what you're talking about. Why don't you tell us who you are? Maybe we can help,"

The woman seemed to take Shiro's words and tone seriously, letting go of Lance and letting him fall to the floor. She stood up straight and addressed the rest of the group, "I am Princess Allura of Planet Altea. I've got to find out where we are and how long we've been asleep," She walked away from Lance and over to the center control console.

Allura placed her hands on the console, causing it to glow and make a holographic screen project itself in front of her. Pidge walked up next to her, taking a great interest in how the console worked.

"It's official. I've fallen into a cheesy science fiction movie. Or maybe it's a coma," Adam sighed, remarking on how they just happened to find an alien princess in the depths of space. First his boyfriend was captured by aliens, which apparently exist. Then they find a futuristic lion that takes them deep into space, and now they literally found an alien princess? How was this even real life!?

"Adam, I know this is a lot to take in, but let's just find out what we can," Shiro said reassuringly. He was handling this all much easier than Adam was. Although, he had spent a long time in alien captivity. If anyone was used to the unusual at this point, it would be him. But even accepting the fact that Shiro was an alien prisoner, and not actually dead like he thought, was too much to handle. Even if he was grateful Shiro was still alive, it was starting to feel more and more like a fantasy.

"Why should we try to find anything out?" Adam argued, "We're not on earth anymore. And apparently, this is no longer real life. We're smack dab in the middle of Crazy Town!"

"Would you give it a rest," Keith chimed in, fed up with Adam's existential crisis.

Before Adam could fire back a response, the second pod behind them opened up. Inside was an older man, looking about to be in his mid 40s, with a large orange mustache and slicked back hair. He wore a full body suit that was primarily blue, with darker blue stripes and white accents. He opened his eyes, his awakening much calmer than Allura's had been.

He looked over and saw everyone in the room, gasping and jumping forward out of his pods, "Enemy combatants!" he spoke in the same accent as the princess. He jumped up, launching a kick at Lance, which he easily sidestepped given the distance between them, "Quiznak! You're lucky I have a case of the old 'sleep chamber knees.' Otherwise, I'd grab your head like this, and one, two, three, sleepy time!" The man gestured a sleeper hold after getting back on his feet.

Lance seemed to take the imaginary fight as a challenge, gesturing back, "Well, before you did that, I'd….. Hyaaa! Like that!"

"Really? How could you do that when I've already come at you with this? Ha, ha, ha, hey!" He grunted, making even more ridicuolous gestures that didn't even look like fighting. This new guy was weird to say the least, but at least it was a harmless sort of weird. So far….

"Man, these guys are good," Hunk smiled. Well, at least someone understood what was going on.

"I take back what I said about him being cool," Adam said flatly.

"It's not like you're that cool either Adam," Shiro smirked at him.

Adam turned to him, "You have never said anything more offensive to me in my entire life."

Shiro chuckled lightly. He missed these little interactions between them. And in the few moments they've been back together, he couldn't help but feel a spark. A longing deep in his heart. One that he should probably ignore, but couldn't deny was there. The computer console beeped, bringing their attention back to Allura.

"It can't be," Allura spoke, her voice heavily with disbelief and a hint of anguish.

"What is it?" the man asked, stopping his imaginary battle with Lance.

"We've been asleep for 10,000 years!"

The revelation weighed heavily on both of them. Adam and the others were filled with questions, desperately wanting to understand not only what had happened to Allura, but also wanting to know how they had come to be here as well.

"Planet Altea and all of the planets in our solar system have been destroyed. Coran, Father is gone. Our entire civilization…... Zarkon did this," She spoke gravely. She was awash of many emotions, most of them grief and pain, but her voice turned spiteful at the mention of Zarkon's name.

Shiro gasped, "Zarkon?" his eyes glazed over for a second, and his body tensed, telling Adam that the name had triggered a memory. And from the looks of his reaction, it was not a pleasant one.

"He was the King of the Galra. A vile creature and enemy to all free people," Allura tole him, filled with hatred over what he had done.

"I remember now... I was his prisoner," Shiro said, holding up his metal arm to look at it. His fists were clenched tight, the trauma of what he went through visible for all to see. Adam noted that he should probably test Shiro for PTSD when they had a chance. He was already starting to display some symptoms.

"He's still alive? Impossible!" Allura spoke furiously.

"I can't explain it, but it's true. He's searching for a super weapon called Voltron."

"He's searching for it because he knows it's the only thing that can defeat him, and that's exactly why we must find it before he does!" Allura declared.

After that, Allura shared her story. She spoke of the planet Altea and her people. She told them about her father King Alfor, and how he tried to defend them from the tyrant Zarkon. But it was to no avail. He had put Allura and Coran in the hibernation pods, hoping to keep them safe until he returned to let them out. But it was obvious, that he never did return.

Adam's heart broke for Allura. Her tragedy was something he could relate to, even if it was on a much smaller scale. Regardless, that feeling of loss was something he was familiar with. More than once he had lost someone he loved to the depths of space. Someone who claimed that they would come back to him, only to find out that they never would come back at all. But Adam got lucky, because Shiro did come back to him. Allura on the other hand… she was less fortunate, and her tragedy was a thousand times worse.

At first, Adam wasn't sure if they should even trust them, but her story helped to convince him. She had faced plight and tragedy. And the beautiful castle around them told him they were in fact royalty. And the pain and grief she was expressing over the loss of her people was completely genuine, at least as far as Adam could see. Not only that, but if their sworn enemy Zarkon was in fact the same one that captured Shiro, then he could trust in the fact that there was someone more threatening out there. But overall, this place seemed safe. Even the giant Blue Lion, which was apparently sentient, tried to protect them and their planet by leading the Galra away.

Allura went on with her story, letting the gravity of the devastation they were facing settle in. If Zarkon truly was alive, then the entire universe was in danger of his rule.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Allura leaned against the console. Now that she'd had a chance to regain her bearings and come to terms with everything she had lost, her mood had dropped drastically.

"Princess, you must eat. It's been 10,000 years," Coran urged her, gesturing toward the floating plate of green goo that Coran had brought in from the kitchen.

"I'm not hungry," she whispered.

"Man, 10,000 years? That's like one thousand plus ten," Lance said, trying to express some empathy towards her situation.

"That's 'times' ten," Keith corrected.

"Whatever, dropout," Lance said spitefully, not appreciating his chance at heartfelt emotion being disrupted.

"At least he can do math," Adam spoke up. Whoa. That was weird. He had shot out another sarcastic quip like usual, but he had done it in Keith's defense. Ugh, since when had he started doing that?

Shiro decided to sidestep all the pettiness and talk to Allura and Coran directly, "I can't believe your civilization created such advanced technology 10,000 years ago. It must have been an incredible place," he praised. His tone was soft, and his demeanor was comforting. He wanted to show respect in the best way he could in the wake of their tragedy.

Coran sighed, remembering all the wonderful things of his world like it was a far off dream, "Yes, it was... but now it is gone and we're the last Alteans alive."

Allura looked up at Coran, seeing the melancholy expression he wore and the gloom in his voice. Someone she had known to be so exuberant and full of energy was brought down to this state. She got up and hugged him, knowing that they only had each other now. After a brief moment, Allura opened her eyes, becoming incredibly alert as if something had just caught her attention.

She let go of Coran and walked back over to the hibernation pod she had come out of. She crouched down, seeing several mice, all of various colors and sizes, standing in a row. They waved at her, happy and cheerful to be recognized by her. She scooped them up in her hands and smiled.

"Looks like we're not the last, after all," Allura stated. The mice seemed unusually intelligent. They were incredibly responsive to what Allura was saying and her actions. Adam wondered what the other animals on her planet were like. It may have seemed strange to be excited about some mice surviving the near extermination of Altea, but he figured it was the closest thing Allura could find in the way of comfort. Much like finding a dog or an animal companion that you rely on when you can't rely on others. It was a pretty simple state of mind to understand. Besides, these mice actually looked cute and friendly compared to the ones on Earth.

As they all stood around watching Allura, a blaring alarm echoed throughout the control room.

Coran whirled around to look at the control panel as a holographic image of a Galra ship hovering in space appeared on the screen, "A Galra battleship has set its tracker to us!"

"How did they find us?" Allura asked bewildered, placing the mice back on the floor and rushing over to the console.

"I'm not sure, but I bet it's Keith's fault," Lance said.

"Say whatever you've got to say to make yourself feel better after getting us stuck on the other side of a wormhole!" Keith yelled. He already had anger issues to start with, and Lance's presence was not helping.

"I'll stick you in a wormhole!" Lance shouted back. He looked like he wanted to fight, but Adam knew Keith well enough to know that Lance would not win that fight.

"Stow it, cadets!" Shiro cut in once more, stepping between them and pushing them away from each other. This was starting to become an annoying routine, "This is no time to place blame. It's time to work as a team. How long before they arrive?" he asked Coran.

"At their speed?" Coran began to think, counting on his fingers, "Oh, well, carry the two... I'd say probably a couple of days." That was more reassuring. It was impressive that the castle had systems that could pick up threats from so far away. It would give them a chance to work out a plan and escape.

"Good. Let them come!" Allura spoke with fire in her eyes, "By the time they get here, you all will have reformed Voltron, and together, we will destroy Zarkon's empire!"

Adam was about to protest the immense and incredibly unrealistic goal she was trying to place on them when Hunk suddenly belched, cutting him off, "Sorry. Food goo," Hunk grinned, feeling awkward as his bodily noises had broken the tension.

Shiro was the first to speak back up, "Princess, we only have one of these lions. How are we going to find the rest?" He didn't bother to oppose the idea that Allura was expecting them to fight the Galra empire, and that worried Adam. But at the very least, they could use these lions to fight off the Galra ship and protect themselves. So for now, Adam decided to keep quiet. Maybe Shiro had the same idea, and then they could all go home. Maybe…

Allura and Coran led them out of the control room and up the stairs in response to Shiro's question. They all followed closely behind, walking into another large room shaped like a half circle. There was a raised walkway running down the middle, with two steps leading down to the base floor. Along the rounded wall, it looked like there were more control terminals. The walls looked strange compared to the rest of the hallways and rooms. They were a dark greyish black, like tinted windows that you couldn't see through. Allura stood at the very end of the raised walkway, closing her eyes and breathing deeply in focus. Coran and the others gathered around her, keeping a moderate distance.

As she stood there, another beam of light descended on her. She looked composed, but focused. Then, as she opened her eyes, the room was filled with a holographic projection of the stars. Tiny little balls of light surrounded them, each one containing symbols and numbers.

"King Alfor connected the lions to Allura's life force. She alone is the key to the lions' whereabouts," Coran told them.

They stood there in awe, watching the stars slowly float by them. It was like standing directly in the middle of a planetarium. _It's just like back then_ , Adam thought, the marvelous sight bringing back fonder memories from his past. Adam looked over at Shiro, seeing that he too was in awe, and he couldn't help but hope that he was thinking of the same thing that Adam was.

"These are coordinates," Pidge said, being the first to notice the purpose of the symbols in each star, "The Black Lion looks like it's in the same location as the Blue Lion," she noted.

"Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage," Coran patted her head. It was incredibly condescending, but maybe that was the best they could come to giving praise.

"Very observant," Allura genuinely complimented. Nevermind. Coran was just rude, "That's because the Black Lion is in the castle," Allura went on.

"To keep the Black Lion out of Zarkon's hands, King Alfor locked it in the castle. It can only be freed if the other four lions are present," Coran explained. It was very convenient. They already had two of the five. All they needed to do was track down the other three and they would have the firepower needed to protect themselves. That's what Allura lead them to believe anyway.

"As you have found, the lions choose their pilots. It is a mystical bond and cannot be forced. The quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in his lion. Together, they form something greater than science can explain," Allura began to explain. Adam thought the choice of the word quintessence was interesting. It seemed to suggest something more than just the centrality of a person's character, "The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times. Someone whose men will follow without hesitation. That is why, Shiro, you will pilot the Black Lion," As she spoke, the small lion hologram moved in front of him to emphasize her designation.

Adam noted at how meticulously she laid out Shiro's characteristics. Their interactions had been very brief, but she seemed to already know exactly what kind of person Shiro was. She was highly observant and intuitive. Adam wasn't sure whether this should worry him or not. After all, they still technically didn't know anything about these people outside of what they told them.

Allura started up again, the Green Lion hologram floating toward Adam, "The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring. Adam, you will…" realizing what was happening, Adam snapped into a resolute tone.

"No," Adam swatted at the Green Lion hologram, which responded to his gesture and floated back away from him.

"I'm sorry?" Allura was taken aback by his obstinance.

"I said no.," Adam was adamant in his choice. There was no way he was going to fly one of those lions. Not of his own free will.

"You are a perfect match for the Green Lion. Your skill and intellect make you the most likely candidate," Allura pressed, getting a little frustrated herself at Adam's reluctance. That in itself showed she wasn't as attentive to detail as he originally thought.

Adam refused to back down at her insistence, "You also said the bond can't be forced. I don't want it. Outer space and me, we don't mix. I'm not flying it."

Shiro stepped over to him, resting a hand on his shoulder to indicate not only the importance of their situation, but also to calm him down as he was starting to get worked up, "Adam, I know you're scared, but you're an amazing pilot. This is what we have to do."

Adam brushed his hand off, not appreciating how Shiro was trying to handle him with kid gloves. He kept his attention on Allura, "The way I see it, you need 5 paladins, and there are 7 people in this room besides me. Take your pick," Adam turned on his heels and stormed out.

"Hey!" Keith shouted. He'd had enough of Adam's dismissive behavior and the way he would just abandon others in favor of his own self-interest. Keith started after him, only being stopped by Shiro stepping up to him and firmly grabbing Keith by the arm.

"Let him go Keith," He insisted. Adam may have been a perfect choice to pilot one of the lions, but Shiro also knew that you couldn't force someone to be part of a team when the stakes were so high.

"But!" Keith wanted to argue, but he took one look in Shiro's eyes and saw there was no opposing him. He understood Adam in a way that Keith just couldn't fathom. And even though going after Adam would be incredibly cathartic, it was clear Shiro wanted to let him have his space, "Fine," Keith agreed, breaking free of Shiro's grip and returning to his spot next to Pidge and Lance.

Allura sighed, moving on past the tension of Adam's outburst, "Well, there is another with the capability to be a paladin. Pidge, you will pilot the Green Lion," the hologram floated out in front of her. She looked at it questioningly, most likely uncertain about the designation that was originally meant for Adam. Allura went on, the Blue Lion hologram floating out in front of Lance. That was an easy association as Lance already seemed to be bonded to it anyway, "The Blue Lion…"

"Hold up, let me guess," Lance cut in, striking another pose to show off his dazzling smile, "It takes the most handsome/best pilot of the bunch?"

Allura and the others just quirked their eyebrows at him. It was a good thing Adam wasn't here right now. He would have at least four sarcastic comebacks for Lance's comment.

Allura went on, not bothering to address any further, "The Yellow Lion is caring and kind. Its pilot is one who puts the needs of others above his own. His heart must be mighty. As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together," the hologram floated out in front of Hunk. He grunted questioningly, his reservations as plain as day on his face.

"The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master. It's faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable. Its pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instincts than skill alone. Keith, you will fly the Red Lion," Keith smirked as the hologram floated in his direction. He seemed to appreciate someone recognizing the strengths in what other people considered to be problematic personality traits. Shiro agreed with her choice. He had always seen the natural talent that Keith had, ever since the moment they first met.

"What? This guy?" Lance whined. Keith side-eyed Lance with minor annoyance, but he didn't say anything.

"Unfortunately, I cannot locate the Red Lion's coordinates yet. There must be something wrong with the castle. After 10,000 years, it might need some work," Allura said apologetically.

"Don't worry, we'll find it soon. They don't call me 'The Coranic' for nothing! It's because it sounds like 'mechanic.' So... Coranic, mechanic. It doesn't sound exactly like it. It's similar," Coran rambled on. Everyone pretty much ignored him after a moment when it was clear that he wasn't saying anything important.

"Once all the lions are united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known, the Defender of the Universe!" As she spoke, the holographic lions converged together, and in a brilliant glow of light, a giant projection of Voltron appeared. It was a giant humanoid robot, each limb a different color to reflect the lion it was made of. Not only that, the dark panels of the room seemed to dissolve away as well, letting in natural light from outside as it overlooked the cliffs. This room must have been an observation deck, or maybe even the control bridge based off the computer terminals along the windows.

"Awesome!" Lance exclaimed.

"Wait. Okay, we're going to be in there and flying lions. Got that part. How do lions turn into legs?" Hunk asked. It was a fair question, but Shiro just chalked it up to the futuristic technology this place was exhibiting, "Also, is this going to be a long trip? Because I have to pee. Do you people pee?" Well, that was a fair question too, probably.

Shiro stepped forward before they answered Hunk's question, wanting to get to the more important matters at hand, "We don't have much time. Pidge and I will go after the Green Lion. Lance, you take Hunk and get the yellow one. Keith, you stay here. If you locate that Red Lion, go with Adam to get it," Shiro ordered, giving everyone their own directive.

"What?" Keith asked bewildered. After Adam's little outburst, he was not excited to be partnered up with him. They didn't even get along that well to begin with.

"I'll talk to him," Shiro said, already knowing what Keith was thinking.

"In the meantime, I'll get this castle's defenses ready. They'll be sorely needed," Allura added.

"I'll ready a shuttle pod and load in the coordinates so that you can reach the Green Lion," Coran headed off toward the hangar bay with Pidge in tow.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Shiro walked down the hall after Adam once they had finished forming their plan. He found him in the nearby common room. A large open, circular room with couches around a center table. Adam sat perched on the armrest of one couch, seemingly lost in thought.

"We formed an attack strategy," Shiro told him, breaking the silence.

Adam didn't bother to look up at him, "I'm not flying one of those lions Shiro. Just being out here is already more than I can handle."

Shiro sighed, sitting down on the couch cushion behind him, Adam continuing to sit on the armrest facing away from him, "You don't have to. Pidge is going to fly the green lion, and I'm going to help retrieve it."

Adam stiffened, "But Pidge is so young….."

"And willing to be part of the team."

Adam hung his head, feeling a little bit of shame about being outdone by a 15 year old, "Look I'm sorry for my outburst back there. But you know why I can't."

"Is it the same reason you turned down my position as first officer at the Garrison?"

"Oh, that again?"

Shiro stood up, walking around to talk to him face to face, "Adam you were easily the best pilot on our team. You deserved to take my rank."

"Well I didn't. I let Jason have it," Adam stood up, his face desperate and looking like he was about to have one of his emotional breakdowns, "He shared your dream of space, but I didn't. Being on the flight team. It's different. I know how account for the force of the wind and gravity and all that stuff. But space? It's unpredictable. You always found that exciting. I find it terrifying."

Shiro approached him, putting his hands on his arms, just short of a hug, "I understand how you feel…"

Adam pushed him away, "Do you? How could you understand what I feel?"

Shiro furrowed his brow, annoyed by Adam's obstinance, "Because I have empathy, and compassion. I've suffered, and I took your pain as my own. So don't tell me for one second that I don't understand!"

Adam was stunned by Shiro uncharacteristic outburst. But he wasn't wrong. Shiro shared in his pain when Adam told him about his past. He comforted him and helped him through it, in a way that Adam didn't think was even possible, "I'm….I'm sorry," he walked over to Shiro and fell into his arms, burying his face in Shiro's neck, "I just don't like thinking about what happened."

Shiro wrapped his arms around him, "Adam. What happened to Aiden wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was…. Yes it was," Adam started to cry into Shiro's shoulder, "I could have saved him, but I got him killed instead. And I can't be part of something like that again. Okay? I can't be one of those paladins where your survival, and the survival of those kids, are dependent on me. I'll just fail you all, and get you all killed. I can't risk that"

Shiro held out Adam at arm's length so he could look him in his tear stained eyes, "Adam you can't sit around thinking about what could go wrong. I know you could inspire hope and be great if you just try."

Adam wiped away his tears, freeing himself of Shiro's grip and stepping back from him, "I'm sorry Shiro. But I can't do it…."

"So that's it? You're just going to sit back while the universe is in danger?"

"You're more than enough to inspire hope in others," Adam turned away from him, his voice weak, "I'll help you find the lions, but then that's it. I'm done."

"I suppose that's good enough," Shiro agreed, but his heart felt heavy. This conversation almost felt like a goodbye. Like they were breaking up all over again. Shiro cleared his throat, "We're going out to find the other lions. You stay here with Keith. If Allura finds the red lion while we're gone, then you'll need to go with him."

"You really think that's a good idea?"

"We don't know what to expect when Allura finds the red lion. And you're the only one I trust to look out for Keith."

Adam got some of his fire back, speaking up, "After what I just said you can't expect me to….!"

"Yes!" Shiro shouted, "I do. That's the plan. Follow it," he ordered, walking out of the room back towards the observation deck.

"Fine," Adam huffed, He wasn't sure what hurt more. The fact that Shiro's concerns were now focused on Keith, or that he was expecting Adam to step up and be the one to look out for him. It pissed Adam off a little. Why did he have to think so much of Adam? And why did he have to order him around too if he thought so highly of him!? Adam broke out into a mocking tone once Shiro was out of the room, "Look at me. I'm Shiro. I survived out in space and became the leader of an intergalactic weapon! I'll just tell everyone what to do, because I'm so…!"

"I can hear you!" Shiro called out from the hall.

"Damn it…"

 **VVVVVVVV**

After sorting things out with Adam the best that he could, Shiro and Pidge took off on the shuttle pod out into space. Hunk and Lance followed them inside the Blue Lion. As they broke the atmosphere, Allura opened up two portals. Approaching them, Coran started talking to them over the comm radio.

"We can only keep the wormholes that lead to the other lions open for two of your Earth hours, so you'll have to be quick about your work. The good news is that according to my readings, both planets are relatively peaceful. So, if you do get stuck, they could be relaxing places to live out the rest of your lives. Well, enjoy the trip!"

They all started shouting out protests, especially Lance and Hunk, but it was too late. The ships had already disappeared into the portals. Adam looked over at Coran.

"You know if they don't come back, you're gonna have to answer to me," Adam warned, not a hint of enthusiasm in his voice. Coran nervously stepped away and started messing with the controls. Adam looked back up at the portals in the sky, "You'd better come back Takashi."

"Tch," Adam looked over to see Keith leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He must have heard Adam based on the way he was staring at him. It was obvious he was still upset about Adam's reluctance to help and be one of the paladins, but that was something he would just have to deal with. He didn't know the whole story, and he didn't really deserve to know. Adam didn't feel the need to explain himself just for the sake of breaking the tension between them. Tension was nothing new for them. He could live with it.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Pidge and Shiro walked the fields of a fertile green forest. Using the locator that Coran had given them, Pidge guided them through the foliage. It was a pretty peaceful place to be, that much was true. Shiro breathed deeply, taking in their calm and serene surroundings. Breaking through the dense wood, they came upon a smooth flowing river.

"Look!" Pidge exclaimed. She pointed at a hollowed out tree trunk carved in the shape of a boat sitting on the edge of the riverbed. It would be the perfect way to move through the forest quickly to find the Green Lion. Before they had a chance to inspect the canoe, they heard a soft grumbling sound beside them. They looked over to see a large sloth like creature, about the same size as Shiro, just standing next to them and looking at the boat as well.

Pidge yelped, jumping behind Shiro and latching onto him like a koala. Shiro was also a little startled, stepping back hesitantly. How had that thing snuck up on them so easily? Whatever it was, it didn't really seem to be threatening. More than anything, Shiro was just surprised by its sudden appearance.

"It's just a... whatever that thing is" Pidge said, realizing the sloth man wasn't doing anything.

The sloth man looked over at Pidge, noticing the device in her hands. As it saw the 'V' symbol plastered on the back of the device Pidge was holding, It walked toward the riverbed, gesturing its hand to follow them.

"I... I think he wants us to get in his canoe," Pidge said.

"Then I guess we should go," Shiro said matter of factly. He didn't seem to have any hesitance in his voice.

"Huh?" Pidge looked at Shiro, surprised at how casual he was going about this situation.

Shiro looked down at her and saw her perplexed face. He smiled reassuringly, "I've been locked up by aliens for a year. This is nothing."

Pidge wasn't exactly comforted by that, but at the very least, Shiro seemed relaxed. He was a prominent member of the Garrison, and someone that many people looked up to. Even Lance! So in that respect, she could be assured that he knew what he was doing and that he would have her back. Still, the trauma he went through obviously had an effect on his memory. It would probably be best for him to get checked out when they were in the clear.

Shiro got in the back of the canoe and sat down. The sloth man stood at the head, holding a giant oar as if the canoe was a gondola. Pidge jumped into the boat and sat in the middle, crossing her legs. Once she was in, the sloth man pushed off and the began to gently float down the river. The rush of water was gentle and relaxing, the wind softly rustling the leaves.

Pidge breathed deeply, reveling in the peaceful scenery. She chuckled softly, "I wonder if Hunk and Lance are having as good a time as us."

"Coran said these were peaceful planets. We may not know him and Allura very well, but I think they can be trusted. Especially given the alternative. Besides, they seem to know what they're talking about."

Pidge sighed at that remark, "I know the Princess said this is supposed to be my lion, but what if she's wrong? I mean, she originally wanted Adam to pilot it," Shiro listened to her intently. He didn't even stop to think that Pidge being Allura's second choice would weigh on her. He was so focused on Adam at the time, but now all these cadets were under his care. He should have been paying attention to her as well. Pidge went on, "She's a princess and all, but I'm not a pilot, even though I've always wanted to be a pilot. I mean I read all the fighter manuals, but I never got to fly the simulator. But hey, I can't be that worse than Lance. He crashed _all the time_!"

As Pidge kept rambling, switching between a flurry of emotions from laughing about her insecurities to full on doubting herself, the sloth man looked over his shoulder at Shiro. It was hard to depict the look on his face under all that fur and his squinty eyes, but given Pidge's nonstop ranting, it was pretty clear what emotion he was feeling. Shiro just shrugged sheepishly at him in a nonverbal apology.

Not even noticing the interaction between them, Pidge kept talking, "But what if I get in there and it doesn't respond? What if I get in there and it's too big and my feet don't touch the pedals? What if there aren't even pedals?!"

Shiro finally cut in to stop her, "You're rambling. Listen, our commander on the Kerberos Mission is the smartest man I ever met, and he always said, 'If you get too worried about what could go wrong, you might miss a chance to do something great.'"

Pidge gasped softly at his words. If only Shiro knew just how much of an effect they had on her….. of how much they really meant to her. Maybe she could tell him? Maybe… she should tell him? Even with his memory loss, he was the best candidate to help her. The last one to see her family….

The canoe came to a sudden stop, drawing Shiro and Pidge's attention back up to the sloth man. He pointed his arm up ahead to a large dome of vines. Considering its perfect shape, it was a safe bet to say this lion also had it's forcefield up, and that the plant life had grown around it. Pidge stood, looking over her shoulder at Shiro.

He smiled, urging her on, "Go. Be great."

Pidge smiled. She was starting to see what Lance saw in Shiro. Why Adam and Keith risked so much for him, and why her family spoke so highly of him. He had the qualities of a strong leader, but also had the kindness of heart to push people to do their best. In her moment of doubt, he gave her words from her own father, and that was all the confidence she needed. She jumped out of the canoe and took off toward the dome. She crawled up the sloping vines, finding a hole at its top. She jumped in through it with a cheer.

Shiro waited with bated breath, silently praying that this would work for her. After a moment, a glowing green light pierced the cracks of the viney dome. And with a loud roar, the Green Lion ripped through the plant life and flew overhead. The canoe rocked back and forth from the force, the slothman and Shiro struggling to stay afloat.

Shiro smiled up at the flying lion, and Pidge back at him. Adam may not have wanted this, but Pidge was perfect for it. This was her strength of character, and who she was meant to be. Of that, he had no doubt, and neither did she.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Keith and Adam waited for Shiro and the others to return in silence, letting Allura and Coran do the work and repairs they needed to make. After some time had passed, Pidge and Shiro entered the control room, both of them beaming. Hunk and Lance walked in close behind them, groaning and covered in dirt and sweat from the intense struggle they had faced. It was like they had just come home from a long day of working in a lumber mill. Pidge and Shiro had a noticeably much easier time retrieving the Green Lion.

"You made it," Allura declared cheerfully, paying no mind to the disheveled state of Lance and Hunk.

"Yeah, just barely. That was a nightmare. I almost puked out there. I felt like Hunk!" Lance groaned.

"Think how I felt. I am Hunk!"

"Yeah. We had a tough time, too," Pidge lied, giving a sly smirk to Shiro, to which he responded with a soft smile.

Shiro had a way of setting people at ease, and apparently he had done the same for Pidge. Adam smirked, seeing Shiro fall back into his old habits. It was hard not to appreciate that quality about him. _Get ahold of yourself Adam!_ He thought to himself. _Don't forget this asshole fucked off to space and left you behind, and then made you think he was dead! Although, that wasn't his fault…._

"Did we find the Red Lion yet?" Shiro asked, cutting off Adam's internal conflict. Probably for the best. Everything was happening so fast, Adam still hadn't come to terms with his feelings yet. On one hand he was happy to have Shiro back, but on the other, he was still upset about him leaving in the first place. Why did emotions have to be so complicated? He would have to worry about it later.

"Allura just located it," Coran affirmed, "There's a bit of good news and bad news. The good news is, the Red Lion's nearby. The bad news is, it's on board that Galra ship now orbiting Arus. But wait, good news again. We're Arus!" Coran finished excitedly. It was looking more and more likely that Coran was just crazy, or oddly exuberant.

"They're here already?" Shiro asked alarmed.

"Yes! Guess my calculations were a bit off. Finger counting is… it's more of an art than a science!"

"How does that make sense!? Can nobody in this castle do math?" Adam asked bewildered. He swore the longer he was out here, the less sense everything was starting to make. Maybe he really was in a coma. Only his mind could torture him this much.

"I can," Pidge cut in.

"Right," Adam agreed half-heartedly. The most rational person he could relate to was 15 years old. Everyone else was either a cute, but irritating ex-boyfriend, a teenage punk, or a straight up alien. What was his life right now!?

As if on cue, a holographic screen appeared in front of the main observation window, relaying an incoming message. On the screen was a large humanoid beast man. He had purple fur and skin, and a glowing yellow eye. The other eye was scarred and looked like it was replaced with a mechanical lens.

He spoke in a deep, menacing voice, "Princess Allura, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire. I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, Lord of the Known Universe. I am here to confiscate the lions. Turn them over to me, or I _will_ destroy your planet," The screen dissipated, but the message had been clear.

Adam noted that he called the princess by name. That meant he knew a lot more than he should have. As far as the Galrans were concerned, they should have assumed Allura to be dead. If they had known she was alive and where she was, they would have come and taken her a long time ago. So how was it possible that he knew Allura was still alive and in charge of this operation? Sure, the Galra followed Adam and the others to this location, and they hunted down Hunk and Lance when searching for the yellow lion, but that's all they should have known. There had to be something else they didn't know about the Galra.

"Alright, let's not panic," Shiro insisted, his mind already running through possible battle strategies.

"Not panic? Th-The scary purple alien thing is driving his battleship toward us. We only have four lions!" Hunk squelled.

"Technically, only three working lions," Pidge corrected.

"That's right. Thank you, Pidge. Three working lions and a castle that's, like, 10,000 years old!"

"Actually, it's 10,600 years old. You see, it was built by my grandfather…" Coran started.

"Thanks, Coran! Thank you for that. See? Now is the perfect time to panic!"

Allura cut through Hunk's panicked rambling, "Wait! This castle has a particle barrier we can activate."

Lance smirked, not seeming to appreciate the gravity of their current situation, "Girl, you've already activated my par…"

"Lance!" Shiro yelled, giving him an annoyed side-eyed look.

Adam began laughing, clutching his sides and making the others look at him perplexed. He wiped a tear from his eyes and sighed "We're all gonna die."

Keith scoffed and rolled his eyes, but he couldn't exactly disagree with him. With a pilot like Lance at the helm, and still being down two lions, they were in deep trouble. At best they could put up a decent fight, but there was no way they could take out a ship that size with the three least experienced pilots at the helm.

"The particle barrier won't hold Sendak's ion cannon forever. The Galra technology must have advanced since we fought them last," Coran reasoned out. Great, another reason to worry.

"Panic now?" Hunk asked, waiting for permission to go out on another one of his terrified rants of what could go wrong.

"No," Shiro spoke firmly, taking command of the situation, "We've just got to figure out our plan of action, and figure it out quickly."

"I say we pop through a wormhole and live to fight another day," Lance said. Being inexperienced, it was probably the best course of action in his eyes.

"I second that," Hunk agreed to no one's surprise, "Yes. I mean, we tried to find all the lions, right? We gave it the old college try. Couldn't do it. We only have three. We can't form Voltron. I guess we could form a snake. Or a worm! To go through that hole, Lance, that you were talking about."

Adam wasn't sure, but he was starting to think that Hunk was making even less sense with each rant.

Lance spoke confidently with the support of his friend, scooching over to Allura, "Then, it's settled. Allura, you ride with me. One of you take the old guy," Allura stepped away from Lance, not amused by his advances. Despite their situation, they were still relative strangers, and he wasn't exactly charming enough to make her look past that. It was like he was living in his own version of a space opera, and he was the titular hero that would whisk the princess away until they could come back and destroy the enemy. But this wasn't a movie, no matter what Adam may have said.

"We can't just abandon Arus," Pidge stood firm, her voice fierce as she was still riding high on the confidence boost that Shiro had given her, "The Galra will keep destroying planets and capturing prisoners until we stop them."

"Okay. If we run, then maybe Sendak will follow us and leave this planet alone, like when we left Earth. We form the snake-worm thingamajig and we hsssssss out of here," Hunk linked his arms together and made a wavy gesture as he made a hissing sound. Yep. He was definitely making less and less sense.

"That was pure luck," Adam told him. When the Galra had tracked them down, they were too focused on the appearance of the Blue Lion. It was just good fortune that they didn't find Earth interesting enough to attack. And with their superior technology, Earth would have been devastated.

"Sendak could destroy the planet and then come after us anyway," Keith said, making another point to support Adam's claim, "Staying is our only option."

"Here's an option, shut your quiznak!" Lance yelled at Keith.

"I don't think you're using that word correctly," he responded coolly.

"What do you know, Mullet?!"

"We're staying."

"Leaving!"

"Staying!" Pidge joined in.

"Snake!" Hunk started waving his arms again.

Shiro's brow was furrowed in frustration, and Adam could have swore he saw that vein bulging in the corner of his temple that he got when he was pissed off. Adam had seen that look enough times to know. Sure, Shiro could be cool and composed, but he could get just as worked up as they rest of them. It was just a matter of figuring out what his triggers were. And a bunch of disobedient cadets arguing over and over again was definitely becoming one of them.

"Guys, stop!" Shiro yelled, his booming voice making everybody freeze. He cleared his throat and turned to the princess, "Princess Allura, these are your lions. You've dealt with the Galra Empire before. You know what we're facing better than any of us. What do _you_ think is the best course of action?"

Allura looked stunned and uncertain. The way Shiro spoke, it was as if she had all the answers. In one moment, he had placed all the responsibility on her, and she wasn't sure she could handle that. In reality, she wasn't much older than any of them. She was still young and had her own doubts and reservations. And despite her skills at diplomacy, and the knowledge of the Galra's treachery, she still couldn't decide what the best course of action was, "I... I don't know," she admitted, lowering her head in shame at having to admit that.

Each argument had their merits. On one hand, they could run and maybe have another chance to get the Red Lion back. But they would lose access to the Black Lion and the planet would most likely be doomed. They could attack the Galra and retrieve the Red Lion, but they most likely didn't have a chance in the state they were in now. The castle was still in need of repair and their best pilots didn't even have lions. They didn't have much time. She'd need to make a decision. But how could she?

Coran walked up to her, speaking assuredly, "Perhaps your father can help."

"My father?" She was deeply confused, but she dared to feel a little hope at his words.


	5. Defenders

**AN:** Happy Valentines Day everyone! I hope you'll all enjoy this very special update! This chapter officially concludes the first episode, and then we're moving on to new and exciting things for this story! I already have a future chapter all worked out, but I need to write one or two more before we get there. Like I said in my last chapter, I'm looking to post more chapters quickly, but it will take a little longer to post my next one than I did this one. So I hope you'll all stick around to keep reading. So without further ado, please read and enjoy!

 **Chapter 4: Defenders**

Coran led Allura to a room in the castle she had never been to before. As the doors opened, it was a simple dark grey room shaped like a circle. The room had no windows or any special features of any kind, not even furniture. It had a computer core in the center of it, but otherwise the room was empty. Allura stepped inside, waiting for something to happen.

"Coran, what is this?"

Coran stood just beyond the door, letting Allura wander around, "King Alfor knew there was a chance he might never see you again. So, his memories, his very being, were stored in this computer for you," he closed the doors, leaving Allura in the room alone.

Once the doors shut, a sophisticated hologram filled the room. Allura gasped and looked around. It was just like the fields on Altea. The vibrant flowers and tall grass, it was all so beautiful. Above the head of the computer core, a hologram of King Alfor started to materialize. He looked just as she remembered him. For her it had only been moments, even though it was actually an eternity. He was tall and regal, dressed in his white armor and royal cape that hung off his shoulder. A soft smile was discernable through his beard. Even the glint in his eyes that she had loved to see was there as well.

Allura gasped, tears threatening to fall from her eyes as she ran up to him, "Father! Father, it is so good to see you."

"Allura, my only child, how I've missed your face," he said.

It may have just been a sophisticated hologram, but it was the closest she could get to her father. It was his memories, his being, all stored right here. And even though he was gone now, he still hadn't left her completely alone. She only wished that she could wrap her arms around him, so that she could feel his warmth one more time.

"I'm so frightened. A Galra ship is set to attack, and I don't know what to do. Please, Father, I need your help," she begged.

"I would do anything to take this burden from you," he lamented, seemingly aware of why this tragedy was befalling her.

"I don't know if we should run to preserve what we have or stay and risk everything. I want to fight, but the paladins of old are gone. I know what you would do…."

"I scattered the Lions of Voltron to keep them out of Zarkon's hands. You urged me to keep them and fight. But for the greater good of protecting the universe, I chose to hide them," Alfor told her.

"I think I understand," Allura said somberly. Maybe it was the best plan. Preserving what they had would be the best course of action. If they lost now, then the whole universe would be lost.

King Alfor spoke with passion, "No, daughter, you were right. I made a terrible mistake, one that cost the universe countless lives. Forming Voltron is the only way to stop Zarkon. You must be willing to sacrifice everything to assemble the lions and correct my error."

Allura looked up at him. She could see the fire in his eyes, the determination. It was the same look he had in real life. The look that told her that he believed in her, and that she could do anything. And he was right. She hesitated in the face of the inexperienced paladins looking for answers, but her answer was still the same. Now was the time to fight.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Adam and the others all waited around for Allura to return, wanting to see what she would decide. But if she didn't come up with something soon, they would have to make a decision on their own. Running away would be the safe bet, but Adam also realized that they would never really be safe if they did so. The best scenario would be to destroy the Galra ship, but that posed its own risks. Adam weighed over the pros and cons, but neither option was significantly better than the other. Although, with the power of Voltron at their disposal, they could protect themselves. That seemed to be the direction that Shiro was leaning towards as well, even though he didn't take a stance in the fight earlier. He was waiting to see if the princess would agree with that strategy or not.

As if on cue, Allura stormed onto the bridge as she crossed Adam's mind. But her look was different. She had pinned up her incredibly long hair into a tight bun, and had changed out of her large flowing garments and into what looked like a spandex battle suit. It was actually quite similar to the ones they had back on Earth. But this one was likely more sophisticated.

Allura spoke, standing firm with renewed vigor, "You paladins were brought here for a reason. The Voltron Lions are meant to be piloted by you and you alone. We must fight and keep fighting until we defeat Zarkon. It is our destiny. Voltron is the universe's only hope. We are the universe's only hope."

"We're with you, Princess," Shiro agreed, smiling with determination.

 _Damn you Takashi_ , Adam thought. He agreed that they should stay and fight to get out of harm's way, but the princess was talking about the whole universe. A battle against an entire alien empire! The kind of battle that not everyone comes back from, and takes years to accomplish. Adam wasn't okay with that. But Shiro, he was a soldier, and a dedicated one. He was always looking for a purpose in life, ever since they were kids in the Garrison. He wanted to do something that really mattered with his life, so he could make a difference with the time he had left. He had tried to find that in space, but that had ended in heartache and tragedy. But now, here was Allura, offering him the chance to serve as the leader of a team that could change the lives of every living being in the universe. How could he ever possibly walk away from that?

Allura led them down the hall to their equipment room. As they entered, panels on the far side wall opened up, revealing color coded white armor for each of them.

"Your suits of armor," Allura declared.

"Cool!"

"Outstanding."

"Oh, neat!"

They all clamored with excitement, walking over to them to examine them. They were excited to be able to wear such futuristic and fantastic armor. Even Keith was excited at the prospect, looking over the plating with enthusiasm.

"Princess, are you sure about this? They aren't exactly the best and brightest the universe has to offer," Coran asked, not feeling to sure about her decision.

"No, but they're all we've got," Allura reasoned.

"I take offense to that by the way," Adam said flatly.

"Wah! How did you get there?" Coran flung back dramatically, not noticing that Adam was standing beside him the whole time.

"I just stood here. I didn't go gaga for the armor like everyone else did. Armor is armor. And going to battle is not exactly something to get excited about," he spoke seriously. He was a little upset, but not entirely about the battle they were facing.

"I agree, but we must fight if we wish to survive," Allura said, taking note of his reservations as just.

"Then I'd say it's time to suit up!" Shiro exclaimed, looking over at them, apparently having been listening the whole time.

They all fitted into their suits of armor. They each came with a black spandex body suit that acted as underarmor, and the solid plating and pieces fitted over them firmly. Much to Hunk's relief, the armor stretched to fit and suit each of them. No doubt the wonders of futuristic tech. Allura even had spare suits of armor, one pink and one purple for Adam to choose from. For obvious reasons, Adam went with the purple suit. Not that he couldn't pull off a pink if he really wanted to, but he was more fond of the purple.

Allura walked over to where the suits of armor had been displayed and pressed a panel on the wall, opening up a drawer underneath it with several hand-held looking tools inside. It was hard to tell what they were supposed to do though as the shape didn't indicate any kind of use or purpose. It looked like a black handle bar with two curved sides that had color-coded panels on them. They floated out of the case, gliding across the room and settling in front of each paladin. They each took the one matching their color.

"The bayard is the traditional weapon of the Paladins of Voltron. It takes a distinct shape for each paladin," Allura told them.

In their hands, the bayards started to glow, transforming in their hands to a unique weapon. Hunk's turned into a large minigun-like canon. Lance's transformed into a rifle for long distance attack, and by contrast, Keith's turned into a sword for close combat. Pidge's didn't transform much other than growing a sharp, glowing triangular edge at the end of the bayard.

"Aw, you got a cute little bayard," Lance teased.

Pidge smacked him with the edge, electrocuting him and causing him to fall to the floor, "Yeah, it is pretty cute."

"Shiro, I'm afraid your bayard was lost with its paladin," Allura apologized.

"It's okay. I'll just have to make do," Shiro said.

Allura then looked over at Adam, "Adam, your weapon is also a bayard, but not in the traditional sense."

"Meaning?" he inquired. She walked over to the drawer and closed it, opening a smaller drawer just above it. She pulled out a dark grey bayard that had no particular color, except for glowing orange seams that must have been its power source.

"Your bayard is a prototype!" Coran exclaimed, "It functions similar to the paladin bayards, but it is grossly inferior!"

"Your bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired," Adam said sarcastically.

Allura held out the bayard to him, explaining in more appropriate detail what it was composed of, "Each of the bayards was formed with the same material used to make Voltron. It connects them to the lions and their paladins in a profound manner. But in an attempt to create a larger arsenal, my father and Coran built this using only a mere sliver of the same material and combining it with modern technology. It can still transform in the same manner, but unfortunately, they only had time to make the one."

"Then why not give it to Shiro?" Adam asked, reluctant to take it. If Shiro was the one going out into battle as a paladin, why shouldn't he have one like everybody else?

Allura sighed, as if she felt guilty about it, "As I said, each bayard takes a distinct shape for each paladin because of their profound bond. In the same manner, each bayard can only fit in one lion. Shiro could use your bayard, but it wouldn't be his. Only the black bayard rightfully belongs to him."

Coran spoke, adding on to Allura's explanation, "Also! Because your bayard is not made from the same material as the others, it is not as durable. We used our strongest materials to create it, so it will still be a powerful weapon when it transforms, but it is still capable of fracturing in its base form. So take extra care! If you break it, it could explode! Or it could create a stasis field that would keep you frozen in time from anywhere to a few dobashes until the end of time!"

"Again, your bedside manner needs work," Adam said sarcastically, "But Shiro should still…"

Adam was about to object once more, but Shiro beat him to the punch, "It's okay Adam. I can manage just fine. Besides, I'm going to pilot the Black Lion. You won't have any weapon at all if you don't take it."

Adam saw the calm, but resolute expression on his face. He scoffed and took the proto-bayard from Allura, "Fine."

As he took hold of it, he felt something. It was like a warmth, pulsing in his hand. Was this the energy that Allura was referring to? It glowed in his hands, changing shape and elongating into a beautifully elaborate halberd. The axehead was a shiny silver, as was the hook on the other side. The staff itself was a dark steel gray, with orange seams running horizontally across the grip. Adam couldn't deny that he felt a little happy seeing the shape his bayard took. He used to do a lot of staff training back in the Garrison, so this weapon would definitely suit his fluid, but strong fighting style.

"You'll need to retrieve the Red Lion from Sendak's ship," Allura told them now that they were all equipped for battle.

"That's a pretty big ship. How are we gonna know where the Red Lion is?" Keith inquired.

"Well it's not a matter of 'we.' It's a matter of 'you,'" Pidge told him. Having just bonded with her lion, she had a better understanding of what Allura was asking of him.

"Pidge is right. Once we get you in, you'll be able to feel its presence and like track it down," Hunk elaborated.

Lance chimed in as well, "Yeah. You know how you felt that crazy energy while we were in the desert?"

"Yeah. You made fun of me for that," Keith said bitterly, still not too fond of Lance's presence.

"And I'm proud of that," he grinned, "but turns out it's exactly like that mumbo-jumbo."

 _That's interesting_ , Adam thought. Each paladin was able to connect with their lion when they got close to it, but Keith sensed the Blue Lion before anyone else ever did. Even before Lance, who was the one that ending up bonding with it. According to Allura, the lions were meant for each them as individuals by matching their personalities and character. And yet somehow, Keith was drawn to Blue. It wasn't like him and Lance had any similarities in personality, not in the same way Adam and Pidge did that allowed her to take the Green Lion in his place. So why was Keith able to sense the Blue Lion? Was it because he had been living nearby it for so long? Had he just picked up on the waves of energy that emitted from it?

Allura approached Keith, "Keith, remember, the Red Lion is extremely temperamental. You'll have to earn its respect." Keith nodded. That sounded very fitting for him.

Shiro moved out in front to address the group, "All right. Here's our plan of attack," Everyone immediately turned to him for guidance. He was such a natural leader, and would have been a commander if not for his passion for exploring the stars, "The Galra Empire knows about the Blue and Yellow Lion, but they don't know we have the Green Lion, too. Hunk, Lance, you'll act as a decoy by pretending to give yourselves up. While Sendak is distracted, Keith, Pidge, and I will sneak onto the ship in the Green Lion."

"I'm going too," Adam stepped forward.

"Are you sure?" Shiro said uncertain. Now that he and the others back, Adam had no obligation to help retrieve the Red Lion. And considering his fears regarding space, this would probably be a nightmare for him.

"You said you trust me, right?" Adam countered, making his determination known, "I promised I'd help you get the lions. You need them all if you're gonna lead this team and take out that ship. Until then, none of us are safe."

Shiro nodded, "Alright. Keith and I will find the Red Lion while Pidge and Adam guards our exit. Hunk, Lance, find some way to take down that ion cannon."

 **VVVVVVVV**

They followed the plan as Shiro had described. Lance and Hunk were pretending to give themselves up, which gave Pidge, Adam, Keith, and Shiro the opportunity to sneak on the ship. Luckily, Pidge's lion had the unique characteristic of being able to cloak itself by turning invisible. Apparently, each lion had their own strengths and attributes. Allura had said the Red Lion was the fastest, and Hunk's Yellow Lion was the most durable. It would be interesting to see what qualities the Black Lion and Blue Lion had to set them apart.

Adam sighed, his nerves starting to get ahold of him now that they were about to descend into the belly of the beast, "This is a suicide mission."

"Only if we die," Shiro quipped nonchalantly. Adam turned to him, seeing the playful look on his face. He missed hearing that dark and sarcastic sense of humor that only Shiro could pull off so well. It actually set him at ease a little. But if anyone should have been terrified right now, it was Shiro.

Once Pidge snuck the Green Lion inside one of the hangars of the Galra cruiser, they all departed out into the halls, bayards at the ready in case they ran into any guards. They key here was to be as stealthy as possible so they could get in and get out. It wouldn't be long until Lance and Hunk would have to give up their little ploy.

"Pidge, what's your ETA?" Lance asked, his voice coming through over the comms in their helmets.

"We're in," she replied.

Crouching down behind a hallway corner to see if the coast was clear, Shiro suddenly grunted, his face scrunched up as if he had a massive headache. After a moment, his eyes flew open with realization, looking around the corridors of the Galra ship.

"I've been here before," Shiro said, "After I was taken by the Galra cruiser off Kerberos, they brought us here."

Pidge spoke up excitedly, "So, that means your other crewmembers, they might be held captive here. We... We've got to rescue them!"

Shiro thought for a moment. It was obvious that he wanted to help the others on his team, but he merely shook his head, "Pidge, we don't have time. We have to get the Red Lion and get back to Arus."

It was a tough call, and a hard truth. In battle, sacrifices had to be made, and taking a detour to rescue the rest of the Kerberos team would only put their plan at greater risk than it already was. Those were the kinds of decisions that could break a person. But Shiro had the strength of character and responsibility to know what needed to come first.

"But we can't just leave prisoners here!" Pidge argued.

Shiro sighed, "Look, no one understands that more than me, but, in war, we have to make hard choices," he said, almost mimicking Adam's thoughts exactly.

"Besides, there's no telling if this is even the same cruiser. This could just be one of several," Adam added. If the Galra really did have as much influence and control as Allura claimed, they could easily have hundreds of these ships.

"Let's get moving," Shiro said somberly, placing a hand on her shoulder to urge her to let it go.

Pidge smacked his hand away, growling at Shiro, "No! Commander Holt is my father. He and my brother were the ones on the Kerberos Mission with you!"

Shiro was taken aback, "Commander Holt is your father?"

Adam gasped. How could they not see it before? Pidge was the spitting image of Matt when he was younger! She was smaller, and Matt had long stopped wearing glasses, but they were so similar it was striking.

"Yes. I've been searching everywhere for him and my brother. And I'm not going to give up looking when I'm this close. I won't!" she yelled. Her determination struck a chord with Adam, and pulled at his heart. She had done so much just to get this close to her family, to save the people she cared about. It was something Adam could relate to, but the difference was that he had already failed in the past. He wasn't going to let the same thing happen to her.

"I'm coming with you," Adam told her.

"No, I will," Shiro said.

"What?" Adam turned to him in surprise. That wasn't the plan.

"I remember where the prisoners are held. You and Keith go find the Red Lion," he said. His logic was sound. Shiro would be able to find the prisoners much faster than Adam could, and if they were going to take this little detour, speed was a necessity.

"We're doing this ourselves?" Keith asked. Keith seemed a little disappointed. It was clear that he had come to depend on Shiro for support, and going without him wasn't something he was excited about. Adam could understand that feeling as well.

Shiro smiled confidently, "Minor change of plans. You'll be fine. Just remember, patience yields focus," Pidge opened up a door next them, ducking inside. Shiro nodded at them, "Take care."

He followed behind Pidge, leaving Adam and Keith behind. Adam gestured for Keith to lead the way since he was the one that was supposed to have the connection to the Red Lion. Keith ran down the hall in the opposite direction of Shiro, Adam hot on his trial. They stopped at the edge of a hallway when they heard footsteps, both of them ducking behind the corners of the hall as several Galra soldiers walked by.

Keith panted, "Great. Now, which way?"

A deep vibration rocked through the ship, and they could hear even more footsteps run by them.

"I guess the jig is up. Lance and Hunk must be fighting the Galra," Adam looked over at Keith, "We're running out of time."

 **VVVVVVVV**

Back on the ground, Allura and Coran worked on getting the castle back in functioning order. She stood on the bridge, placing her hands on the two control panels, "Particle barrier up!"

A giant orange globe began to form around the castle, but then it sputtered out and disappeared.

Coran ran over to one of the control consoles and pried it open, looking inside, "All the barrier crystals are out of alignment."

"We have to fix it immediately. Without the particle barrier, we'll be defenseless," Allura rushed over to his side, seeing how she could help.

"We're both too big. What can we do?" He gestured to the small opening. It was a narrow access panel that was just large enough to see in, but too small fit a hand inside.

Allura heard a faint squeaking coming from behind her, seeing the colorful Altean mice standing at attention behind her. She picked them up in her hands.

"The mice!" She said as if they were the answer. She dropped them into the panel and they quickly crawled inside, pushing the crystals back into place where they belonged.

"How do they know how to do this?" Coran asked surprised, watching them intently through the open panel.

"I can hear them talking to me. I think our minds are connected. It must be from sharing the sleep pod for 10,000 years," Coran looked perplexed. It was a little hard to believe, but such an event or experiment had never been tried like this before. He could work out the science of it later, but right now it was just fortunate that the mice were able to help. They climbed out of the panel, squeaking happily as the particle barrier reactivated and covered the castle in an orange dome.

Allura bowed gratefully, "Thank you, friends."

She heard Coran grunting and looked over to see him staring at the mice with intense concentration while holding the sides of his head.

"Coran, what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to get them to make me a sandwich!"

 **VVVVVVVV**

Keith and Adam reached the end of another hallway, coming across yet another fork in their path. No matter which way they went, it felt like they were running around in circles. There were no distinguishing features on the ship, and all the signs with directions were written in an alien language, making them completely useless.

Keith groaned, "You've got to be kidding me!" he spat out in frustration, taking a moment to catch his breath before figuring out which way to go now.

"Keith, remember what Shiro said," Adam said reassuringly. Keith was at risk of letting his emotions overtake him, and that just wouldn't do. He needed to stay calm, and Shiro trusted Adam to look out for him. Also, if Keith was going to tap into the sense needed to find his lion, then staying calm was probably the best way to do that.

"Patience yields focus," Keith agreed, letting Shiro's words set his mind at ease. He took a deep breath, standing still for a moment. It was almost like he was mediating, tapping into a part deep within himself. Adam wondered, if he had been exposed to the Blue Lion's energy ever since he left the Garrison, could he have developed the ability to sense them? Should he add 'sixth sense' to the list of things he believed in now? Keith stood motionless, until like a light switch something seemed to click inside of Keith's mind and he turned around, "Gotcha," he smirked, taking off down the hall they had just come from. Adam followed closely behind, pondering what made Keith so special.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Pidge and Shiro continued their path toward the prisoner cells. Running up to a fork in the road, a floating machine came down the hall toward them. It was a small, pyramid shaped robot with a glowing red light at its center, which must have acted as its eye. It saw Shiro and Pidge and hovered, its eye blinking while it scanned them. Pidge shot at it with a small electric pulse, causing it to fall to the ground.

"That thing saw us. We should get out of here," Shiro warned.

Pidge grabbed the small robot and opened a panel on its back, "Wait. I think this might come in handy. I'll just reset the controls…" she fiddled with something on the inside, then popped the panel back on as it lit back up and started to float again, "and it's working for us! I'm going to call it 'Rover.'"

Shiro seemed a little skeptical, but he continued on. The small robot floated closely behind Pidge, as if it was a small dog sticking to the heel of its master. Like a little lapdog that could fly. They turned down the hall where Rover had come from. Shiro and Pidge quickly came up to a door, but it didn't automatically open like the others. It must have had a proximity lock or electronic code that opened it. There were no panels around to suggest a spot where a password could be entered though. But if Rover came from this way, then…..

Pidge looked over at Rover and pointed at the door, "Open up," she ordered. Rover floated toward the door, it's eye blinking and causing the door to respond and open.

Shiro gave an excited laugh, "Excellent, Pidge!" Well, apparently that robot was helpful.

It took only another few moments before they found the prison cells. With Lance and Hunk fighting the Galra and keeping them distracted, something that was obvious from the vibrations of the battle coming from all around them, there were no guards on post to get in their way. Pidge came up to the large holding cell, taking her bayard and smashing it into the control panel. The doors opened, and a large room filled with numerous aliens of various races sat inside. It was hard to see everyone, and Pidge started jumping around and weaving through the crowd.

"Dad?" She called out desperately.

Shiro addressed the prisoners so they wouldn't panic, "Don't be afraid. We're here to help you escape."

One of the prisoners stepped forward through the crowd, looking at Shiro with recognition. He had pale blue skin, long ears, and two long whiskers coming from his lip. He seemed to be an old man based on the wrinkles of his skin, but it was hard to tell since he was an alien of another race. Still, he spoke with a voice that suggested years of experience, "It's you... It's you, the Champion," he turned to the other prisoners, "If anyone can get us out of here, he can."

Shiro was confused, trying to remember him to no avail, "Wh... What did you call me?" Did he say champion? What did that mean?

Realizing there were too many people to search through, Pidge ran back up to Shiro at the head of the pack, "We don't have much time. Let's get to the escape pods."

Shiro nodded in agreement. He led the way for them all to follow, knowing the fastest way to get to a shuttle big enough for everyone, "Let's go. Come on!" Pidge followed reluctantly. She so wanted to find her father, but it didn't seem like he was here. But one of them knew Shiro, so maybe he knew her dad as well? She could find out once they were out of this situation, but they had wasted enough time as it was.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Keith came up to a large doorway at the end of a hall, pressing his palm against the control panel and making it open. Inside was a giant open hangar bay. One or two Galra ships were located on the sides of the room. But the most important thing, was the giant Red Lion seated in the middle of the bay, surrounded by a red forcefield similar to the one the Blue Lion surrounded by.

"Bingo! Let's get out of here!" Keith declared triumphantly. He ran up to the red lion, placing his palm against the forcefield, "Open up. It's me. Keith. Your buddy," Keith spat out gracelessly, waiting for something to happen.

"Seriously?" Adam crossed his arms. Keith sounded so awkward, he'd be surprised if the lion ever let him in.

Keith huffed in frustration, "It's me! Keith, your…. I am your paladin! I'm bonding with you! Hey! Come on! We're connected!"

Adam leaned against the wall, sighing heavily, "Yeah take your time, it's not like we're in a rush or anything."

"I'm trying damn it! Just shut up and let me think!" Keith closed his eyes, trying to focus and feel the bond between him and the lion. But before he could make the connection, he heard a blast whiz by his head and strike the forcefield next to him, "Ahh!"

"Damn! They found us!" Adam spun on his heels, readying his weapon as four Galra soldiers filed into the room, shooting at them with large rifles in rapid succession. He took cover behind one of the Galra ships, his halberd pulled against his chest.

Keith dove behind the nearby control console that was set up in the middle of the room next to the lion, "You were supposed to be watching our exit!" He shouted at Adam.

"Argue later, fight now!" Adam rolled out from behind cover, spinning his halberd to deflect blasts as he made his way toward the soldiers.

"You're not getting this lion!" Keith's bayard morphed into a rifle, shooting it at the Galra and providing cover fire to let Adam close the distance.

Adam roared, striking the floor with the tip of his halberd, allowing it to propel him forward into the air as he kicked off the ground. He kicked one of them soldiers in the head, its head collapsing and coming off with wires and sparks of electricity shooting from its neck. _A robot!? What's next?_ Adam immediately thought, but he didn't have time to linger on it. He was in the thick of battle and had to take care of the others fast. Once his feet hit the ground, he fell into a crouching position on his knees. He swung his halberd to the side, catching the foot of one of the robots with the hooked end and pulling hard. It fell to the ground flat on its back, its gun shooting straight up into the ceiling as it was held in a fixed position in its arms. Adam twisted around and kicked the robot's arms upward, making the gun it was still firing shoot another one of the robots in the head.

The last robot soldier aimed its gun at Adam's head. He was about to dive out of the way and counterattack, but before he had the chance, Keith shot it square in the chest several times, making it collapse to the ground in malfunction. Adam stood and stabbed his halberd into the robot still lying on the ground, killing it and making it stop firing. Adam looked over at Keith and nodded in appreciation. He could have easily dodged that last attack and destroyed the robot himself, but it was nice to have someone have his back. Even if it was Keith.

He walked back over to Keith when the door opened behind him again. This time six robot soldiers filed in and started firing. Adam dove to the side, both him and Keith taking cover once again.

"Aghh! We're outmaneuvered!" Adam yelled. There were too many this time for them to fight back. Keith couldn't take them all out on his own, and Adam wouldn't be able to get close enough to fight them with the added gunfire. They needed to think of something fast!

"Adam! I got an idea! Hang on to something!" Keith called out to him.

Adam looked over to see Keith crouch up behind the console, "What are you…!?" Keith slammed a button on the console before grabbing onto it tightly. _Shit!_ Adam took his halberd and stabbed it into the wall next to him, holding on as tightly as he could.

As soon as Keith pressed the button, giant hangar bay doors opened up in the middle of the floor. The force of the oxygen being sucked out into the vacuum of space started pulling everything out with it. The soldiers were pulled out like ragdolls, tumbling across the ground and ramming into each other as they fell out into space. The ships lined up against the walls shifted slightly, rocking from the force of the air trying to pull them out. The Red Lion, which was set right in front of the hangar doors didn't budge at all, most likely due to its protective field. Adam strained to hold on, waiting for Keith to close the hanger bay doors.

He looked over his shoulder, seeing Keith struggling to sustain his grip. He didn't have as solid of a grip as Adam did. He was only holding onto the console box with his bare hands. He must not have thought of using his sword to help him stay stationary. If he let go with even one hand to close the hangar doors, he would lose his grip and be sucked out into space. Keith must have realized that because he was struggling to hold on, waiting for the rest of the air to be pulled out of the room.

But then, Keith slipped down to the tips of his fingers, his grip slowly slipping away. His teeth were gritted in frustration, using every ounce of strength he had. Adam's eyes went wide in realization. Keith was right next to the hangar door! He should have realized the force would be too strong for Keith to hold on. Adam was across the room where the pull was less intense and even he had trouble holding on. Keith lifted his hand up to try and regain a stronger grip, but the momentum was too much and Keith slipped and was pulled out into the darkness of space.

"NO!" Adam kicked his feet off the wall, pulling the halberd free and allowing himself to be pulled out after Keith. Keith was spinning out from the force of being sucked out by the vacuum, but Adam had dived straight out, allowing him to make his way toward Keith quickly. Adam reached out for him, trying to grab ahold of his hand. He wasn't going to lose anyone else. Not to the cruel depths of space.

"Keith!" Adam called out to him through his helmet radio.

"Adam!" Keith called back, trying to stop himself from twirling so he could reach out for Adam.

Adam grabbed hold of Keith's hand, being pulled into his momentum as he tried to help stabilize him. They could see the Blue and Yellow Lion fighting the Galra ships around them, and they were drifted out in the direction of the battle. Suddenly, without warning, the Red Lion flew straight at them, swallowing them up in its mouth and closing it to seal them inside.

They lay on the floor of the its mouth, the artificial gravity inside letting them adjust and regain their balance. Keith got up on his hands and knees, patting the floor, "Good kitty," he gasped out in appreciation. He stood and made his way to the cockpit, "Let's roll!"

Adam lay flat on his back, breathing heavily from the rush of adrenaline and literally diving out into one of his worst fears, "I'm just…gonna lay here for awhile," he huffed, holding a thumbs up as Keith ran up to the head.

 **VVVVVVVV**

"Hurry!" Pidge shouted.

They had successfully guided the prisoners out of their cells and to the nearest escape pod ship. Shiro had remembered the fastest route to one from his last escape attempt. As the last prisoners started loading onto the ship, three Galra drone soldiers rounded the corner and pointed their guns at them.

"Halt!"

Shiro felt a tightness in his chest at seeing the soldiers. The tension of the situation, and the need to fight back and protect the others, it pressed at him with a ferocious intensity. The pain in his chest suddenly shot through to his head, and he collapsed to his knees, his hands clutching at his helmet as flashes of memories poured through his mind.

"Shiro? Shiro, what's wrong?" Pidge tried to ask, her hands raised in surrender to buy them a few moments. Her voice sounded so distant to Shiro. Distorted and warped, but after a brief moment, the fog cleared, and instinct took over. Shiro rose to his feet, his eyes snapping open and his robotic arm glowing purple with an unknown energy.

He rushed forward, slicing through one drone with his hand and splitting it in half. The closest drone pointed its gun at Shiro, which he grabbed with his human hand and pushed it up out of the way, the blasts hitting the ceiling. Shiro kicked the legs out from under the third drone, giving him time to stab the one in front of him with his glowing fist and rip out its core. Then he dropped pulled the gun free from its hands as it dropped to the ground, shooting the last drone on the ground.

"Thank you, Shiro," the old man said as the doors of the escape shuttle closed and departed, snapping Shiro out of his stupor and back to reality.

"Wait! How do you...?" Shiro tried to call out to him to no avail. It was obvious that alien man knew who Shiro was, but he even knew his name! He would need to find him once this attack was over. He had questions for him that might be able to help fill in the gaps in his memory.

"Shiro, that was amazing! Where did you learn to fight with that?" Pidge asked, directing her attention at his arm.

Shiro looked up at his hand, the color returning back to normal and no longer glowing. The way he used it suggested so much practice and training. It was just instinct, and so natural. Shiro was a skilled fighter from his training at the Garrison, but the way he moved, it was combat specifically tailored to his robotic hand. And that was something he had never trained for back on Earth, "No idea," he admitted.

Hunk's voice cut in through their helmet radios, "Pidge! Kitty Rose has left the stage!'

"Let's get the heck out of here!" Lance screamed.

Pidge and Shiro nodded at each other, making their way back toward the Green Lion. They had no time to delay.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Lane and Hunk had fought and managed to damage the Galra Cruiser to give them time to retreat back to Arus. Hunk had caused some damage to their giant ion canon, meaning they wouldn't be able to strike them from a distance for a short while.

Keith, Pidge, Hunk, and Lance all gathered their lions in the giant castle hangar bay. They surrounded giant bay doors, and the lions all roared, making the door glow and slide open. Behind it was the Black Lion, giant and commanding. It was a little larger than the other lions, and it had giant red bars attached to its back, kinda like the spines of wings.

Shiro walked between the lions and up to Black. Its eyes glowed with recognition and roared, rising to its feet and lowering its head to allow Shiro inside. There was no hesitation from Black at all in recognizing him as the leader, and that wasn't the least bit surprising to Adam. He stood back with Allura and Coran, watching as Shiro took hold of his new responsibility. Adam felt a rush of pride at Shiro being recognized for his strength of character, but also, he couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. This new destiny threatened to take him away from Adam once again, maybe forever.

As the pain began to weigh heavily on his heart, the alarm began to blare once again.

"Oh, quiznak!" Coran rushed over to the nearest control terminal, "Sendak is entering the Arusian atmosphere!"

"We need Voltron now!" Allura declared. Her and Coran made their way back to the control bridge, Adam following behind. He lingered for a moment, watching as the Black Lion rose to its feet, leading the pack as it ran outside of the castle.

Running back up to the bridge, they could see the giant Galra ship floating high in the sky above the castle. Without warning, a giant laser blast shot out from the ship and struck the particle barrier. The vibrations of the blast shook the castle, making them stumble. Thankfully, the barrier was still holding strong. Adam looked out over the observation windows, seeing the lions phase right through the barrier and run across the desert plains just below the castle. Small Galra ships began flying out of the large cruiser, focusing their attacks on the lions.

"Man, those Galra guys repair things fast!" Hunk called out through his comms radio, which was broadcasting inside the castle bridge for them to hear. He dodged a blast from one of the ships, smashing it with the side of his lion into the ground and making it crash and explode.

Coran was fiddling with the console controls, most likely trying to divert energy to their defenses, "The barrier gets weaker with every blast. Once that shield goes down, the castle will be defenseless!"

"I can give you cover with the castle defenses for a while, but you have to form Voltron now or we'll all be destroyed!" Allura stood back at the center podium, focusing her energy and summoning gun turrets outside the castle that began firing at the small fleet of ships.

It diverted their attention away from the lions and allowed them to regroup. Pidge jumped up and grabbed one in the mouth of the Green Lion, chomping down on it and tossing it across the desert where it blew up. Keith's lion fired blasts from its mouth, taking out two on his way toward the others.

Shiro slashed at one of the ships, knocking it out of the way and taking lead in their formation once again, "Listen up, Team Voltron! The only way to succeed is to give it all you've got! This looks bad, but we can do this! Are you with me?" Shiro called out. He never needed to say much, but his voice carried a weight that inspired motivation. They all nodded in agreement, following closely behind Shiro.

"I'm nodding. Is everyone else nodding?" Hunk asked, breaking the motivational momentum.

"Yes!" The others answered in exasperation.

"Let's do this!" Shiro said, ignoring the awkward break in conversation.

They continued running for a moment, waiting for something to happen when Lance finally asked, "Uh, how?"

Shiro sheepishly replied, "Good question. Does anyone have any ideas of how to form Voltron?"

"I don't see a 'combine into giant robot' button anywhere on my dashboard," Hunk said.

"This is insane! Can't they just cease fire for one minute so we can figure this out? Is that too much to ask?" Pidge asked, dodging a blast and firing back.

"We've got to do something!" Keith yelled.

"Combine!" Hunk slammed into Keith, knocking his lion down into the dirt.

"Hey!" Keith yelled out in irritation.

"Okay, that didn't work," Hunk said casually.

"What the hell are you guys doing out there!?" Adam's voice cut in. He was watching them run around dodging blasts and fighting back, but now they were just hitting each other like a bunch of idiots. Where the hell was this freaking Voltron already!?

"Quickly, Paladins! Our energy levels are getting low!" Allura groaned as another blast from the ion canon struck the castle. The blasts took time between each shot, but they couldn't handle much more. Based on how Allura looked, they could handle maybe two more shots.

"Maybe if we fly in formation, we'll combine. Take off on my cue. One, two, three!" They pushed off the ground and flew in a standard fighter jet formation, Shiro at the head. The circled up, going higher and higher, but nothing was changing.

"Come on, come on!" Lance called out.

Shiro grunted, "Nothing's happening."

"Hey, wait, wait, wait! I feel something!" Pidge yelled.

"I do, too. I feel it. It's like we're all being pulled in the same direction!" Hunk shouted with excitement.

"Uh, guys, I think I know why. Look up," Shiro told them. They turned up to see the giant Galra Cruiser floating above them, a magenta ray of light shining down on them. It was a tractor beam pulling them in. All that work, and they were about to be captured without even accomplishing anything!

"What the cheese!?" Lance whined, trying to pull back from the Galra's pull.

"Sendak's ship is sucking us in like a black hole!" They all turned to try and get away, but the strength of the tractor beam was way too strong. If they had more distance maybe they could have gotten away, but they had gotten to close within range.

"TakaAHHHHH!" Adam's cry was cut off as the castle was struck once more, the castle shaking intensely. Allura collapsed onto her hands and knees, the particle barrier falling and leaving the castle completely vulnerable to attack. The Galra Ion canon began charging back up. The next blast would take down the castle, and the lions were about to be captured. They were all about to die or be taken prisoner.

Shiro grunted, "No!"

"I-I don't care what you say, Shiro. I'm panicking now!" Hunk started screaming.

"It can't end here!"

"This is it!

"It's been an honor flying with you boys," Keith lamented through a strained voice.

Adam stood there, listening to their cries of defeat. It was all about to end, and Adam was about to die on an alien planet. Everyone was going to die. And there was nothing he could….

NO! He couldn't let this happen again. He couldn't let everyone down! Adam ran over to Allura, demanding answers by asking the one question no one had bother to ask, "How do they form Voltron!?"

"They.. they must feel the bond with each other, li…like they do with their lions," Allura strained out. Adam nodded. He knew what he needed to do.

Adam ran back over to the console and pushed Coran out of the way, pressing the button that linked him to Shiro's helmet radio, "Shiro! You have to listen to me. You are the best fighter pilot in the entire Garrison, and you are a born leader. If anyone can form Voltron, it's you! Allura and Coran believe in you. Those cadets believe in you…. And…. I believe in you!" Adam felt like he was laying his soul bare, but if he was about to die here anyway, he might as well not hold anything back, "You are capable of so much. So just ask yourself, why do you want to be a paladin!?"

Adam's words rocked Shiro to his core. He closed his eyes, mustering up his strength and determination, and calling out to the others, "Paladins! We can do this. We have to believe in ourselves. We can't give up. We are the universe's only hope! Everyone is relying on us. We _can't_ fail! We _won't_ fail! If we work together, we'll win together!"

They all cried out in agreement, and as they were about to be pulled into the Galra's hangar bay, they felt the pull of Voltron pushing them together.

The ion canon was almost completely charged, ready to fire any second. Adam, Allura and Coran braced themselves for the hit. At the very least, hopefully Shiro and the others could get away _._ Just as the canon started to fire, something smashed into it, causing it to explode and cover the ship in a cloud of smoke.

Adam and Allura gasped, looking back up at the screen and waiting with bated breath to see what had saved them. Coran zoomed in on the canon and projected it on the giant holographic screen. _Come on, come on_ , Adam thought with anticipation. As the smoke began to lift, they could see the shape of a large robot standing on the Galra ship, its fist punched into the side of the canon. They did it!

"We formed Voltron!" Pidge exclaimed.

"I'm a leg!" Hunk cheered.

"How are we doing this?" Lance asked bewildered.

Shiro spoke up, his voice filled with excitement, "I don't know, but let's get this cannon!"

Voltron grabbed the ion canon and began to pull it upward, ripping it off the ship. The ships other defenses started activating, firing turrets at Voltron, but the blasts had little to no effect. They tore the canon from the ship before swinging it back down like a club and striking it over and over again.

They flew around, smashing the turrets and guns, and striking key points like the engines. Eventually, the ship started exploding all over as a chain reaction from their attacks, and the ship started to crash and burn. The paladins flew up high, and with one last strike they all roared and dove down to pierce right through the heart of the ship with the entirety of Voltron. The Galra ship collapsed and completely exploded. They had won, and now they were finally safe. Adam stood there in awe. A giant alien ship was about to kill them all, and in a manner of minutes, Voltron had taken out the entire thing! But in the chaos, none of them noticed the lone escape pod launching off into space.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Having defeated the Galra threat, the lions split back up into their separate forms, all of them landing just outside the castle. Adam, Allura, and Coran ran outside to meet them as the paladins exited their lions.

Adam saw Shiro walking out from his, taking off his helmet and wiping the sweat from his brow. Adam couldn't contain himself, and he ran right up to him, jumping toward him and pulling Shiro into a tight hug, "You did it!" he cheered.

"Ahh…" Shiro gasped, a little surprised and flustered.

Realizing he was acting way too intimate given their situation, Adam cleared his throat and let go, stepping back, "I mean…..you did good…" Adam wiped at his nose to cover the blush on his cheeks.

Shiro just smiled sweetly at him. Even when they weren't together, it felt nice to be close to him, "Thanks."

The rest of the paladins gathered behind Shiro, and Allura stepped forward, "Good work, Paladins!"

"Thanks, pretty lady," Lance shot her his signature smirk, to which she paid very little attention.

"We did it," Shiro said aloud, repeating Adam's words.

"Heck yeah, we did," Keith came up and slapped Shiro on the back, bringing his attention towards him.

Shiro laughed, "How did we do it?"

"I was just, like, screaming the whole time. Maybe that did it."

Shiro turned to Pidge, "We're not going to stop searching until we find your brother and father. Wherever they are, I know they'd be proud of you."

Allura spoke a little more seriously, "We won the battle, but the war has only just begun. I'm afraid Zarkon will not stop until he gets these lions."

"Good thing you paladins know what you're doing, because you're going to have to form Voltron again and again," Coran spoke matter of factly. Except, they didn't know what they were doing. They had literally all just said so. If Adam hadn't asked Allura how they were supposed to combine, he might not have been able to inspire Shiro to make them all rally together! Honestly, was Coran even paying attention to them?

"We barely survived forming Voltron this one time," Lance exclaimed. Finally, he was talking some sense now.

Coran went on enthusiastically, "And you only had to fight one ship. Wait until you have to fight a whole fleet of them! It's not going to be easy being the Defenders of the Universe." Yeah, Coran was definitely not Adam's favorite person right now.

"Defenders of the Universe, huh? That's got a nice ring to it," Shiro lamented, letting the title wash over him.

"Eh, needs work," Adam quickly dismissed, dashing Shiro's cheerful prospect. Adam just smirked and winked at him, "But I'm sure I can come up with something better."

Shiro was a little stunned, and maybe a bit uncertain, "So, you're going to help?" He must have expected Adam to want to go home after this fight. Well to be fair, he had said as much. But what he really wanted was for Shiro to come home with him. He didn't even want to be in this fight. But he also realized, that he couldn't lose Shiro again. So he would stay, and watch out for him the way he never could before.

Adam waved his hand, trying to play off the seriousness of his intent as casual, "I just realized that you idiots will probably get yourselves killed without me around. So what else can I do?"

Shiro smiled knowingly at him, "Thank you, Adam."

A lot of changes were heading their way. Not all of them welcome. But this was they life they were going to live now, and Adam would just have to come to terms with that. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad….or maybe it'd be worse. They would all just have to wait and see. But for now, they had each other.


	6. Some Assembly Required

**Chapter 5: Some Assembly Required**

Shiro laid back on the chair of the medical bay that Coran had showed them to. Now that things were starting to settle down, Adam wanted to do a more thorough examination on Shiro and his condition. Given his illness, he should have been much weaker now than when he left on his mission one year ago. Yet somehow, he had managed to get stronger. Plus, there was that robotic arm that was doing who know what to his body. Adam was grateful that the castle had a medical wing. There were the rejuvenation pods where they had found Allura and Coran, but this place was meant for more complicated operations and running tests.

Shiro sat on the examination chair with his shirt off while Adam looked him over. He was checking his blood pressure with a device he had found, which was a bit more metallic and futuristic than a normal blood pressure gauge. However, it wasn't all that different from the ones on Earth, so Adam could still operate it. Apparently, some concepts were universal. Then he took a flashlight and checked Shiro's pupil responses, while also taking a closer look at some of the scars on his body. He had seen them when they had rescued Shiro from the Garrison, but he didn't have a chance to look at them properly. But considering how Shiro wasn't able to take his medication in the year he'd been gone, he wanted to see how well his body healed up in response to trauma.

"You have quite a few new scars on your body," Adam noted out loud, tracing his finger along as he looked at each one. Some were shallow gashes on his skin that should have been much more severe injuries based on how large they were, and others were so faint that the only sign of scarring was the slightly dark discoloration of his skin.

"Well, that tends to happen when you have to fight for your life almost everyday in an alien coliseum," Shiro replied dryly. He had a tendency of making light of situations in the strangest ways. Not that Adam minded. In fact, he kind of missed it.

"Same sense of humor I see. That's good," Adam said, with only a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He smiled slyly at him, not letting Shiro have all the power in this exchange.

"Just trying to hang on to the parts of myself I still have," he said, holding up his metallic arm.

Adam eyed him questioningly, "Are you talking about your arm, or your memory?"

Shiro dropped his hand and turned away a little, a look of anguish coming through on his face. He had already admitted that he couldn't remember everything clearly from his time in captivity, but that seemed to be eating away at him, "Both, I guess…."

Adam sighed. Maybe he just didn't want to talk about it. Adam spoke in a calm and reassuring tone, "Don't be too hard on yourself. What happened was out of your control. And given your situation, you're bound to be suffering from some PTSD. And memory loss is a common symptom. Your mind is just protecting itself until you can overcome some of your trauma."

"So, you're not mad at me anymore then?" Shiro said hopefully, reading into his comforting words and casually sidestepping the issue of his mental stability.

Adam smirked and then patted his shoulder, "Don't get excited, there's new stuff." _Like the fact you want to stay and be a part of this stupid fight._

Shiro chuckled as Adam stood and walked over to the counter, "I see you still have your sense of humor as well. You're not much dif….Ow!" Shiro yelped out in surprise as Adam had grabbed his arm while he was talking and stuck him with a needle.

"Oh yeah. I can see your time fighting for your life really toughened you up," Adam replied sarcastically, pulling back on the plunger to take a blood sample.

"Why do you always have to be an ass?" he scowled.

"It's a gift," Adam pulled the needle free from his arm and stood up, removing the vial from the needle and storing Shiro's blood in what looked like a small refrigerator, "You can put your shirt back on now."

"Huh? But all you did was look at my scars. Aren't you gonna examine something…. or listen to my heartbeat?"

Adam looked at him with an earnest expression on his face, "You don't need your shirt off for me to do all that."

Shiro sighed, "Then why am I shirtless?"

"Does there have to be a reason?" he replied coyly.

Shiro chuckled softly, grabbing his shirt and pulling it back over his head, "Heh. You're terrible."

"No worse than you. You can go now. It's gonna take me a few minutes to familiarize myself with all this equipment and examine your blood. Until then, I'd say you're healthier than ever."

Shiro zipped up his vest, turning back to him, "Thanks Adam."

"Don't mention it," he tried to wave him off without looking back at him.

Shiro moved to stand next to him by the counter, staring him down from the side, "I mean it. Thank you, for everything."

"Right…." Adam met his gaze, caught off guard by how close Shiro had moved toward him. He dropped his head and turned to look at the counter, trying to avoid the intimacy of Shiro's gaze. _Don't do that. You don't get to do that anymore,_ Adam thought. He started fiddling with what looked like a centrifuge, pretending to figure out how it worked as he spoke, "Go on. I'll catch up later."

Shiro nodded. There was still a lot him and Adam needed to talk about, but Adam didn't seem to be in a very chatty mood. So much had happened in the past two days, Shiro couldn't blame him for being overwhelmed by it all. He was still a little bit in disbelief himself, and he was the one missing parts of his memory! And even though talking it out and getting back on good terms with Adam was something he desperately wanted, there were much more important matters at hand.

 **VVVVVVVV**

The next day came relatively quickly. Allura and Coran had given them all rooms to sleep in the nigh before. They were comfortable, albeit a little plain. Kinda like oversized dorm rooms you'd find on a college campus. They were split up into 2 halls, each one holding three rooms for them to divide amongst themselves. Allura and Coran were roomed somewhere else in the castle, most likely in a royal hall or something. It _was_ a giant castle after all, and Allura was technically a princess. Shiro, Adam, and Keith were all roomed in one hall, and Pidge, Hunk and Lance were bunked down in another.

It was still fairly early in the morning when an alarm suddenly started blaring through the castle, shaking most of them from their sleep and alerting the ones already awake. Allura's voice boomed through the castle on an intercom system, which meant she must have been on the control bridge already.

"Everybody up! Zarkon's attacking!"

Shiro and Keith darted out of their rooms already fully dressed, Adam following closely behind.

"The Castle's about to be destroyed!"

Pidge gasped, darting out of her room. Hunk jolted awake, stumbling out of bed and getting tangled up in the blankets as he did so.

"Go, go, go! We need Voltron now! Hurry! We can't survive much longer!" She called out, waiting for the paladins to arrive. There was no real danger, but she needed to test the response time and reactions of those who were on a path to fight the greatest evil of the universe.

Coran popped up behind her, feeling her performance needed a bit more to draw them in, "You've got to sell it a little bit more," he pushed her out of the way and began speaking into the intercom, "Oh, no! Allura is dead! Aw, it's horrible! Her head fell off! Wait! What? Her severed head is trying to speak to me! What is it, Allura's head? What are your final words?" Coran rambled on, acting out with gestures as if it was somehow helping his performance.

"Coran…." she responded flatly, just as the paladins were starting to make their way onto the bridge.

"Oh, yes Princess, I'm listening," he went on, making it part of his little dramatization.

"It's over," she tried to alert him to what was going on behind him.

"Oh, I know! If only Voltron had been formed!"

"I guess this isn't an actual attack," Shiro cut in, folding his arms.

Allura became more serious now that she had their attention, "And it's a good thing it wasn't because it took you….. Coran?" she turned to him, asking for the approximate time.

"Seventy-five degrees! Oh, wait, this is a meat thermometer."

Allura rolled her eyes, turning back to the paladins, "However long it was, it was too long. You must always be ready to do battle with Zarkon at any time. Look at you! Only Shiro is in uniform." As she had said, only Shiro was wearing his armor. Adam and Keith were dressed in their normal clothes, and Pidge and Hunk were still wearing their pajamas.

"Ten bucks he was already wearing it," Adam quipped, poking fun at Shiro.

"How….?" Shiro started, slightly astounded.

"You used to always put on your tactical gear and exercise in the morning. I know you," Adam explained before Shiro could ask.

Allura continued, "Keith, Pidge, Hunk, where are your bayards. And where is Lance?"

As if on cue, Lance strolled in wearing some blue Altean pajamas, a face mask pulled up onto his forehead, and a pillow tucked under his arm, "Good morning, everybody. What's going on?" he yawned.

Adam cupped his hands over his mouth, desperately trying not to laugh. Everybody else was either alert or dressed in their normal clothes. And not only did Lance arrive last, he came in like he had just woken up from a slumber party. The contrast of his casual entrance against the life and death stakes that Allura was trying to fake was absolutely hilarious to him. Maybe he needed to rethink his perspective on this kid.

Allura, on the other hand, was not as amused as Adam was, "Coran and I have been up for hours getting the Castle back in order. We had to run a test on the alarms, and we decided to test you as well. Guess which one failed?"

Hunk quickly chimed in to Lance's defense, "Hey! You got to sleep for 10,000 years, man. Monday night, I was on Earth. Now, I've flown through space, fought some evil alien named Zarkon, and eaten goo in some weird castle. It's a lot to process!"

He had a point. Hunk may not have been the bravest, but he had good situational awareness and was the most emotionally caring. It was just hard to see at first underneath all his verbal exclamations of cowardice.

"Well, if I'm not needed, I'm going to go make some coffee," Adam said, turning to leave for the kitchen.

"What's coffee?" Coran asked, and at those words, an immediate tension washed over the room.

"Oh no," Shiro rested his head on his forehead, bracing himself for what was about to unfold.

Adam froze, looking over his shoulder, his voice turning dark and menacing "What did you just say?"

Shiro and Keith stepped out of the way, knowing full well about Adam's coffee addiction. The man had been in love with it since he was a teenager. Shiro had tried to get him to quit coffee once, and it had ended in a temporary break up and some wrecked furniture. Safe to say, it wasn't a good idea to not have any on hand when Adam was around. He must have been so preoccupied that he didn't even consider that coffee wouldn't be part of the available cuisine in space.

"I've never heard of this coffee. Is it anything like booglash?" Coran continued to inquire.

Adam's eye twitched, and he quickly rushed down the steps, grabbing Coran by the collar and shaking him intensely, "Coffee is life! It comes from a bean and you brew it into a drink from the gods! Now do you have anything like that, or don't you!?"

Shiro sighed heavily, walking over and detaching Adam from Coran, "Sorry about him. I don't really get it either. Coffee is a bitter black drink that gives you energy and wakes you up. People also usually add milk and sugar to it."

"What's milk?" Allura asked Coran offhandedly.

Adam leaned on Shiro, devastated by this revelation, "I'm not gonna make it Takashi! The withdrawals alone will kill me!"

"Well I'm not sure we have anything like that, but we do have a variety of drinks that provide a boost in energy," Coran offered.

"I just… I need to be alone for a few minutes," Adam let go of Shiro and drug his feet out of the control room, his head hung low in disappointment. He was being a little overdramatic, but that was par for the course when it came to Adam and coffee.

"Yeah that's about right," Keith commented. While Keith was undeniably closer to Shiro, he was more than aware of Adam's dependence on caffeine from the time they had spent together.

"Please focus!" Allura yelled, wanting to get back on topic, "You must understand the stakes of our mission. Over the last 10,000 years, the Castle has picked up distress beacons from numerous locations. So, we have to assume that Zarkon has conquered almost the entire known universe. An attack on your planet is inevitable."

"Oh, no," Hunk was the first exclaim.

"Exactly. Our mission is to free all those planets. Coran and I are getting the Castle ready to leave Arus. During that time, you have to learn to form Voltron so we can begin fighting Zarkon."

Shiro marched forward to stand at the head of the group, his military training taking over, "The Princess is right. Let's get to our lions and start training."

"Wait. But I want to talk to the prisoners we rescued from the Galra ship!" Pidge insisted. After they had defeated Sendak's Galra ship, the prisoners had landed nearby on Arus. Allura and Coran took them into the castle and put them in the rejuvenation pods. In addition to being cryogenic tubes, they also had healing capabilities.

"Ah, negative, Number Five! I have you ranked by height, by the way," Coran quickly told her when she looked at him questioningly upon hearing the nickname, "The prisoners need to remain in the cryo-replenishers until tomorrow."

"Wait, shouldn't Pidge be number six? What about Adam?" Shiro asked, curious about the number since Adam was taller than most people in the group.

"I only applied the ranking to the actual paladins," he said matter-of-factly.

"That's right. Now, get to your lions. You must begin," Allura insisted.

They all nodded and headed out of the control room. Shiro headed straight for the hangar bay, while Keith and the others went to their rooms to get dressed in their armor. Adam was nowhere to be seen. Most likely he was trying to find a coffee substitute in the kitchen. Once all the paladins were dressed, they were ready to train.

 **VVVVVVVV**

They lions all marched out of the castle, Shiro leading the pack in the Black Lion as expected, "All right, guys. Let's just fly in tight formation until we're totally in sync."

Allura spoke to them over the comms, "Feel the bond with your lions and your fellow pilots until five become one, and you form Voltron!" She instructed. She had learned a bit from Adam during their fight with Sendak. She couldn't keep assuming that the paladins knew how to bond just because they had each connected with their lions. They weren't like the paladins of old that she was familiar with. These new warriors didn't have the same instincts or training, so they would need a lot of work and explanation.

Everyone cheered as they soared into the sky, eager to recreate the amazing feat they had the day before. They flew higher and higher, leveling out and flying over the landscape. Circling the castle, their cheers diminished as more and more time passed without any success of forming Voltron. Eventually, they had resorted to more ridiculous methods by the time Adam Joined Allura in the control room. He was holding a mug of black liquid and had calmed down significantly since that morning.

"How's everything going?" Adam asked, as he sipped his drink.

"They've been out there for an hour and they still haven't formed Voltron," Allura informed him. Allura switched on the comms feed so he could listen.

Shiro was giving a pep talk to the team, all of them sat in a circle, "Feel the bonds with your lions. Now, channel your energy into forming Voltron. Focus. Focus. Is everyone bonding and focusing?"

"Why was this so much easier before?" Lance whined.

Shiro sighed heavily, getting a little frustrated himself, "Let's take a break."

Adam and Allura appeared on Shiro's screen, Adam chiming in happily, "Having trouble Shiro?"

"It is a little difficult. We all need to be focused, but not everyone has the same level of training, and I…. Wait. Adam, what are you drinking?"

"Coffee," he said simply as he took a sip.

"But I thought the Alteans didn't have coffee?"

"I had a whole case of instant coffee in my satchel bag. All I needed was hot water. Luckily some things are universal," he took a little swig, "It's a little bitter, but I can manage with this for awhile until I can come up with a more suitable substitute."

"You always find a way, don't you?" Shiro lamented fondly.

"I guess I do," Adam winked.

Allura spoke up, breaking the tension between the two of them, "Sorry to interrupt, but I may be able to help with creating Voltron. Yesterday, you weren't able to form Voltron until you were in the heat of battle."

They all clamored in agreement. It made sense. The stress of the situation forced them all to cooperate, and life or death stakes had the tendency to get people on the same wavelength.

"Perfect! Because I need to run a diagnostic test on all of the Castle's defenses. This should help!"

Allura activated a switch on the console, and before they knew it, the castle started firing numerous canons and lasers at them from all over the castle. The paladins screamed and panicked, jumping out of the way of the blasts as best they could. Shiro and Keith maneuvered through the onslaught with extreme expertise, only taking the occasional hit. Hunk was taking the most fire, which wasn't surprising, but it was fortunate that his lion had the most resilient armor. Lance blundered about, but he wasn't doing terrible, and Pidge was smart enough to dodge by taking cover behind rock formations and the other lions.

"Allura, what are you doing?" Keith yelled out a little irritated.

"Inspiring you!" she replied cheerfully, "I believe in you, Paladins! Let fear be your guide! Form Voltron!"

"Forget this! I'm heading back to the Castle!" Lance turned and leaped for the castle entrance, crashing straight into the castle's particle barrier just as Allura activated it.

"Please stop! Please! Have mercy on us!" Hunk cried.

"You think Zarkon is going to have mercy on you? He's probably on his way right now to destroy us all!"

"Aren't you being a little hard on them? They're not going to get this in one day," Adam spoke out in their defense.

"They may very well have to. And I won't live with the regret that I was too soft on them and left them unprepared. They need to push past their limits," Allura flipped off the comms and walked away from him, going over to assist Coran with repairs.

"Not the first time I've heard something like that."

 **VVVVVVVV**

 **Several Years Ago**

Shiro sat on his bed, his left arm laid up in a sling. He had a guilty and sheepish expression on his face as Adam fussed over him.

"Damn it, Takashi. How can you be so reckless?" Adam scolded, untying Shiro's arm to look it over.

"It's just a sprain Adam. It's not that big a deal," he tried to calm him.

"How can you say that?" Adam pressed on his arm, trying to feel if anything was out of place or damaged, "You know even a simple sprain is a lot more serious for you," Adam applied pressure to his wrist and Shiro grunted in discomfort.

He pulled his hand back, letting Adam grab some bandages, "It's barely more serious. I just need to take it easy for awhile and I'll be good as new."

"I'd be inclined to believe that if you didn't do this every couple of months. You're always pushing yourself too hard," Adam started wrapping up Shiro's arm, pulling the bandages tight around his wrist to limit the range of movement and reduce the strain.

"You don't have to scold me like a child Adam."

Adam's brow twitched in irritation, "Why shouldn't I? You clearly don't understand your own limits!" Adam tied off the wrap and rose to his feet. _I'm just trying to take care of you, idiot._

"I understand my own limits just fine!" Shiro cried. Adam didn't react, since this was a typical reaction for him. Adam would reprimand him, and then Shiro would get defiant and angry. But as Adam walked back toward the dresser to deposit his supplies, Shiro spoke just barely above a whisper, "I need to push past them."

Adam stopped in his tracks, stunned by the timidness in his voice. He looked back at Shiro, perplexed, "What are you talking about?"

Shiro's head was hung in shame, making it hard to see his face, "You know what I'm talking about Adam. You saw my test results," Adam gasped softly. So that was it. He was…. scared, "My disease is slowly getting worse. I got maybe 5 years or so before I can't stand on my own anymore. And then it'll just get worse from there."

Adam approached the bed, crouching down next to it, "Don't talk like that."

"It's true. Feeling sorry for me isn't going to change it or make it go away," Shiro clenched the fist of his injured arm, "That's why I _have_ to push past my limits. I need to get stronger, and then maybe I can buy myself more time."

"Why do you need more time? You're just endangering your health like that," Adam rested his hand on top of Shiro's injured arm, making him unclench his fist as he lowered it to rest on his lap.

But Shiro continued to speak up, his voice growing more passionate with every word, "Because there's so much more I want to do! I want to fly into space and explore new worlds. I want to make a difference, and I want to be able to do it on my own merit," his voice was solid. Defiant even. He had so much he wanted to prove, even when he didn't need to. This was the kind of man Takashi Shirogane was. And it was killing him. His expression softened as he looked at Adam, turning his hand up to hold his, "And, I want to be able spend as much time as I can with you."

That pulled at Adam's heart. This man, full of fire and ambition, held such a tenderness in his eyes when he looked at him. To think someone so strong, could be so soft and gentle. And that's why….. he was wrong, "Takashi, you're very brave and sweet. But you're also an idiot."

"What?" Shiro was put off by how seriously Adam said that. Like he was stating a fact.

Adam squeezed his hand tighter, careful not to put too much pressure on it, "You don't have to push yourself so hard. However much time you have left doesn't matter, I just want you here with me. Okay? We can figure the rest out together."

Adam meant everything he said. To say it wouldn't be a burden to help take of Shiro later on in life would be a lie. But that didn't matter. As long as they could be together, that would mean everything to him. Adam had so few people left in his life that he cared for, and he didn't want to lose another. Shiro was someone who was always there for him, even when he didn't want him to be. How could Adam not repay the favor? He wanted to hold onto Shiro for as long as he could, because no matter how much his body would start to wither away, he would still be the same man Adam fell in love with. And as long as Shiro stayed by his side, that was never going to change.

"I just don't want to have any regrets," Shiro admitted. That was something Adam could understand. He nodded.

"Then I'll support you, but only if you don't push yourself too hard, or endanger your health. Deal?"

"Deal."

 **VVVVVVVV**

 **Present Day**

"Are we at full power on condenser number five yet?" Allura asked Coran as they continued to tinker with the equipment in the control room.

"No, still just 84 percent."

As they worked, and Adam sipped the last of his coffee, the paladins walked in, exhausted from trying to dodge deadly gunfire and form Voltron at the same time. Excited to see the paladins walking in, as the conditions for letting them back inside was they needed to form Voltron first, Allura spoke to them excitedly.

"You did it! You formed Voltron!"

Keith slumped down into a chair, "No. The shooting stopped and the particle barrier shut down, so we just flew in."

"What?!"

Coran scratched his head apologetically, "Oh, right. Uh, sorry, Princess. I had to turn off the Castle defenses to test the fire suppressors!"

Adam took a fake sip from his empty mug, not letting Allura know that it was his idea to tell Coran to redirect power from the barrier. He understood the intention behind her actions, but he wanted to give them a chance to rest. As if to contradict his intentions, Shiro marched in behind the paladins and addressed them as if they were all still in the Garrison and he was their superior officer.

"What are you guys doing in here? We're not taking a break."

"Shiro's right. You should be training," Allura crossed her arms, not thrilled with how reluctant they were to take on their new roles as defenders of the universe.

"We've been training!" Hunk whined, "When are we going back to Earth?"

"I'm not going back until I find my family," Pidge declared.

Shiro interrupted them, cutting off their side commentary and bringing their attention back to the matter at hand, "Guys, there won't be an Earth if we don't figure out how to fight Zarkon."

Adam stepped in, pulling Shiro's arm to turn him away from the others and speaking quietly, "That very well may be Shiro, but they're still just cadets. If you want them to progress, then they need a chance to rest and get accustomed."

"Our training back on Earth is no less intense. This fight is too important to just take it easy," Shiro brushed Adam off, not changing his stance. He was being more stubborn than usual, and it made Adam wonder if he was projecting his personal expectations onto the others.

"How are we going to fight? We can't even figure out how to form Voltron," Lance asked, cutting right to the heart of their biggest issue.

"Well, I'm not surprised," Coran piped up, "You know, the original paladins fought hundreds of battles together, side-by-side. They were like a pack of yalmors linked at the ears!"

"Wow. Yeah, that's definitely not us," Lance replied sarcastically, ignoring the strange analogy.

Coran wasn't fazed by Lance's tone of voice and went on, "During the last attack, your survival instincts forced you to work as a team, but that will only get you so far. You'll have to become a real team to have any chance of forming Voltron and beating Zarkon. You should try working out on the training deck."

"There's a training deck?" Hunk seemed surprisingly interested. But more than likely, he was excited by the prospect of less intense exercise that didn't involve being shot at.

"Yes! There are several exercises you can partake in to increase your bonds and trust!"

 **VVVVVVVVV**

They all made their way down onto the training room floor. It was a large open platform area with high ceilings and an observation deck just above. Considering that the paladins were still physically capable, and the exercises would be more controlled, Adam conceded to the idea of letting them train. As a medical professional, it was hard not to get involved and oppose anything that would cause them to push themselves too far. He had spent too much time seeing young cadets do the same thing, especially Shiro. But maybe that was the problem. It was possible he was projecting his own overprotection from years of trying to look out for Shiro during his training. For now, it might be best just to let things play out. After all, these exercises would probably be far less severe.

After some setup, the paladins were all lined up on the training room floor, each with a large energy shield equipped on their arm. The purpose of this exercise was to build trust by protecting each other from oncoming fire. Allura assured them that that the ammunition being used was non-lethal, and it would merely eject anyone hit from the training floor. None of them were really sure what that meant, but maybe it was a kind of teleportation blast? Adam and Allura watched over them from the deck, Coran returning to work on repairs.

As the turrets rose out of the walls and floor, the paladins quickly dove out of the way of the gunfire, blocking oncoming blasts with their shields as they were bombarded from all directions. Keith and Shiro were obviously the most agile at defending. Pidge was surprisingly spry as well, her small size playing in her favor. Unfortunately, the opposite was true for Hunk, and he was the first to be blasted out. Once he was hit, the floor opened up underneath him, making him fall through like a cartoon character falling into a pit. The floor quickly closed back up once Hunk fell through, leaving Adam a little astonished. That was a crazy feat of technology, but at this point nothing should be too surprising.

Shiro started barking out orders to line up in a circular formation. It was the easiest and most practical defense. They all got back to back, fending off the blasts with their large shields. Given the oval shape of their shields, they still needed to be alert and compensate for the gapes in their defense. Aside from losing Hunk, they seemed to be doing really well. That is, until Lance and Keith started bickering with each other about not slacking off on defending one another. They both lost focus and quickly went down. More than likely it was Lance's fault. His self-invented rivalry with Keith gave him some animosity towards him. And Keith? Well he just didn't like to be pestered, and strike back at anyone who did. Adam knew that from firsthand experience. Still, it was a little amusing to see there was someone besides himself that could get under Keith's skin like that.

It wasn't long before both Pidge, and finally Shiro, took their hits and descended into the floor. Adam sighed. It didn't take a genius to see how well these young cadets were getting along as a team. Shiro was the perfect choice for leader, but he was a relative stranger to everyone but Keith. Lance's arrogance was his downfall, as was Keith's irritable personality and inability to cooperate with others easily. Pidge was lacking experience, and Hunk was merely too scared to let himself fulfill the role that he no doubt could with a little more confidence. This was going to take some effort.

 **VVVVVVVV**

The day went on slowly, each training exercise having as much success as the last one. They tried navigating each other through an invisible maze test, which resulted in running into a lot of walls.

Then they tried changing pace by building their relationship with their lions. It was a simple nosedive tactic, relying on the bond with their lions to guide them into pulling up at the last possible second. Hunk pulled up way too early out of fear. No surprise there. Pidge did a little better, but was still a safe distance from the ground when she pulled up. Keith and Lance were too busy being idiots and competing with each other, ending with them crashing straight into the ground. Not only that, they even sped up and hit it at full speed. If it wasn't for their vital signs being broadcast to the castle's control room, Adam would've thought they were dead.

But of course, it was Shiro who really shined, just like he always did. He got quiet as he made his quick descent, and just when Adam thought he was gonna crash, he pulled up into the sky. Shiro had great instincts and a natural intuition for these kinds of things. And if these lions were somehow alive, which was a real possibility considering how Allura talked about them, he also had the empathy and kindness of heart to earn its trust and respect.

"You always find a way to pull ahead of everyone else, don't you Takashi?" Adam lamented to himself.

Exercise after exercise, test after test, the result was inevitably the same. Keith and Lance were too hung up on arguing to succeed. Pidge and Hunk did well at intellectual based tasks, but fell short at physical ones. Keith and Shiro were best at flight drills and physical training, but Shiro stood out ahead of him. Lance was middle of the pack on almost everything. He wasn't the best, but he wasn't the worst at any particular test either. This went on for the whole morning and afternoon. Allura kept pushing and pushing, and Shiro wasn't doing anything to counter her or take it easy on the kids.

As the paladins reentered the castle from a flight drill, Adam pulled Shiro aside while Allura began scolding the others for their shortcomings. She was coming off a little harsh, but Adam would have to worry about that later. She wasn't the one on his mind right now.

Adam stopped with Shiro just around the corner near the hallway, "Nice job out there Shiro. You're a natural at being an intergalactic fighter pilot."

"Is that a compliment, or sarcasm?" he asked, sensing there was something more to this conversation.

"Really? I know you've been gone a year, but you should know me better than that," Adam joked.

"Okay. Very funny. What are you really trying to say Adam?"

He took a deep breathe, "Look Shiro. You are a natural at this, but you spent years training and pushing your body to its limit to compensate for your disability.

"I know that," Shiro felt himself getting a little annoyed. Why was he brining this up now?

"Then you should also know you can't expect the same from everyone else. You and Allura are being too hard on them. They need time to adjust. Not everyone can keep up with you."

"You did," Shiro countered. Adam had been by his side for every drill and every mission back when they were just teens in the Garrison, even when it was a little too much for him. But that came from a place of love and devotion. He wanted to look out for Shiro while also staying by his side to support him. But that wasn't the case anymore, and it wasn't the same for this rag tag group of teenagers.

"That was different, and things are different now," he summarized, not wanting to get bogged down in the details of their past.

Shiro didn't like that answer, his voice rising slightly, "Adam this fight is too important. It's for the whole universe."

"This fight barely started 2 days ago!" he countered.

"For me it started over a year ago!" Shiro yelled, shocking Adam and making him take a step back away from him. Shiro felt an immediate sense of guilt wash over him. He had even surprised himself a little. He lowered his head and spoke softly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

Adam cut him off, "No, I'm sorry. I was being selfish. I never considered things from your point of view like that," he stepped forward again, lightly touching Shiro's arm as he spoke, "You've been suffering through this longer than anyone…. but they haven't. Two days ago, they were still just kids living a normal life on Earth. They're willing to fight, but you can't keep hammering them down with pressure. They need a chance to accept these changes in their life before they can help you. Just be a little patient with them."

Shiro felt a little guilty. He didn't realize he was carrying so much weight that he was pushing on the others. He just expected everyone to be as ready to fight as he was, but Adam was right. It was wrong of him to expect the same level of determination.

"Alright. I'll try and ease up on them, but we can't stop. We need to keep pushing forward," Shiro insisted, urging for a compromise.

"That's fine. Just keep your priorities in check,"

Shiro started to walk back to join the others, stopping at Adam's side, "Why is it, even after all this time, you have to lecture me like I'm a little kid?" Usually this upset Shiro immensely, but this time, there was a hint of amusement in his voice. It was funny. To think he actually missed Adam's scolding.

Adam smirked, "Well, you can be kinda slow on the uptake, you know?"

Shiro smiled, walking back to join the others.

 **VVVVVVVV**

The next exercise was a non-physical one, which Shiro asked for based on Adam's recommendation. They were all sat on the ground in a circle, each of them wearing a crown-like head piece on their heads. It was an electronic device that was meant to connect them on a cognitive level. Coran was taking a break from the castle's repairs to explain its function and guide them through the exercise.

"Now the most important part of paladin training is being able to meld your minds and focus on one thing, Voltron. Everything else has to fade away. This technique will be essential every time you form Voltron. So, relax and open your mind. No walls, no secrets between paladins. Focus on something that calms your mind," he instructed.

All the paladins closed their eyes and began to think. Holographic screens appeared in front of each of their heads, showcasing images of what calmed them the most. Keith's projection was of the desert cabin just outside the city, Lance's was of a farmhouse, probably owned by his family, and Hunk's was a regular two-story house. It wasn't surprising. They were all still kids, and a family home was the most comforting place for them on a psychological level. Shiro's was a mental image of the Garrison. That wasn't surprising either, but for different reasons.

Shiro didn't have much family to speak of. His parents had died in an accident when he was still a baby. He ended up being raised by his grandparents for most of his childhood. But his passion for space and to explore the stars led him to the Galaxy Garrison. Eventually Shiro was accepted and he moved out to pursue his dreams. Ever since he was about 16, the Garrison had been his home. Shiro still kept in touch with his grandparents from time to time, such as conference calls and holiday visits, but he had a new home now. Adam would have liked to visit them following Shiro's disappearance, but he never knew where they lived. It was heartbreaking to think how much grief they must have suffered alone. Hopefully, Shiro could see them again soon.

Finally, there was Pidge. She was having trouble projecting her thoughts as her mental hologram was mostly just static. An image was slowly starting to come into a view, but it was blurry. It looked like a picture of herself with a smaller younger girl. Maybe another sibling? They had similar features, but the image was far too hazy to be clear.

Coran cut back in with his instructions, speaking in an unusually soothing voice, "Now, focus on forming your lion. Bring your lions together and form Voltron. Keep your minds open, work together."

Lance cut in, a hint of annoyance present in his voice, "Pidge, stop thinking of your girlfriend!"

Pidge's image became static again, "I wasn't! Hunk was rooting around in my head!"

"I thought we were open," he spoke casually, "You can look in my head hole."

"Everyone has to be able to look in everyone's head holes!" Coran chastised, "Clear your minds!"

Pidge was starting to refocus, but she was struggling. Her mental image was weaker than the others, and Adam wondered if she was reluctant to let the others in her mind. Did it have something to do with her family?

"Pidge!" Lance yelled once her mental image faltered again.

Pidge rose to her feet and tore the electronic crown off her head, "I'm done with this! Look, I don't like everyone grubbing around in my head!" She was incredibly stressed, but she didn't storm off. She was reaching her limit though.

Shiro spoke softly to keep her at ease, "Come on, Pidge, we're starting to get the hang of this," there was a subtle urging in his voice. Not for her sake, but because he himself was getting excited at the prospect of their progress.

Pidge sighed, "I'm just... I'm just tired, okay?"

Shiro instinctively looked over at Adam and then back at Pidge, "Okay. Let's take a break."

"You have been working hard. Maybe it's time to relax a little," Coran agreed. Well, at least he was more accommodating than Allura. Everyone moved to the lounge area, and Adam gave Shiro a look of appreciation. It was nice to know that he was taking what he said to heart.

 **VVVVVVVV**

After about an hour or two, Allura came storming into the lounge, "What are you doing lying around? You're supposed to be training!"

"Just resting a bit. You know, you can't push too hard," Coran chimed in cheerfully.

"What do you mean, 'can't push too hard'? Get up you lazy lumps! It's time you faced the Gladiator!"

The paladins groaned, standing up and following after her. Shiro looked over at Adam, a little uncertain if he should protest or not. Adam nodded, letting him go on with their training. They had a sufficient amount of rest, so it was no issue. But Adam did appreciate Shiro taking a moment to acknowledge him and silently ask for permission. Shiro was only ever in charge of recruiting cadets from high schools, not actually training them. He still needed time to figure out how far he should push these kids and when he should ease off them. It was a little amusing to see.

Maybe Shiro did need him here after all. Allura clearly wasn't going to ease up anytime soon, but Coran balanced her out well enough. Maybe, he could be Shiro's balance, if only for a little while. Shiro was naturally kind and compassionate, traits that rivaled his own dedication. It wouldn't take him long to learn how to handle his team.

Adam followed after the others back into the training room. He stood with Coran and Allura on the observation deck while the paladins got situated. They were all given standard Altean swords instead of their bayards. It wasn't a bad idea. If they were all using the same weapons, then they could more easily identify other's strengths and weaknesses. However, that did leave those who weren't used to sword-based combat at a disadvantage.

"In order to defeat the Gladiator, five paladins must fight as one," Coran pressed a button and a robotic soldier rose out of the ground. It was tall, and it held a sturdy, metallic staff. Keith and Shiro got into defensive positions, while the others awkwardly held up their weapons in anticipation.

"Wait, so are we supposed to… Whoa!" Hunk screamed, dodging a sudden attack from the gladiator by falling back on his butt.

Shiro and Keith took instant action, both swinging from opposite sides. The Gladiator sidestepped out of Shiro's reach and blocked Keith's attack with the brunt of its staff, pushing Keith back and giving him a swift kick to the chest.

Pidge and Lance decided to move in, taking advantage of its focus on Keith. Pidge swipped low, and Lance high, but the Gladiator deflected Lance's attack and stepped down on Pidge's blade, pinning it to the ground. It took the end of its staff and slammed it into Lance's chest, knocking him on his back. Then the gladiator thrusted the staff back in the other direction, hitting Shiro who had been coming up behind him. Not to be forgotten, it delivered a swift kick to Pidge as well to knock her back.

Keith grunted, getting back on his feet, jumping up and swinging down. The robot held its staff straight up, blocking Keith's attack. Keith kept pushing down on it, hoping to distract it long enough for someone else to get a hit in.

Hunk rose to his feet, screaming like a madman as he charged the Gladiator from behind. The attack might have worked, if he hadn't been so loud and obvious. The gladiator managed to throw Keith's weight to the side, knocking him to the ground. Lance, who had gotten back up, tripped over Keith while trying to get back into the fray. And in turn, Hunk tripped over Lance and slammed to the ground.

This went on for several minutes. They blundered about, getting in each other's way and failing to execute a coordinated attack. At one point, Shiro was the only one left standing, the Gladiator having knocked back the others. This time, however, it went on the offensive instead of just deflecting attacks, charging straight at Shiro. It must have registered Shiro as a more serious threat that it needed to take down.

Shiro braced himself for the oncoming attack as the Gladiator charged at him. But before it reached him, Shiro gasped softly, and his eyes went wide with fear. He looked frozen, unmoving as if he was in a state of shock. Oh no. Was he having a PTSD attack? Adam needed to do something. Shiro was going to get hurt if he didn't move out of the way. Adam stepped forward, unsure of how he was going to help or reach Shiro in time.

But before Adam could act, Keith jumped in front of Shiro and blocked the attack. Shiro still stood frozen behind him, and as Keith held the Gladiator back, he looked over his shoulder to check on him, "Shiro, are you okay?"

The gladiator stepped back from Keith and spun around, striking Keith in the chest once again and sending him tumbling back, this time directly into Shiro. They collapsed on the ground together, Keith sprawled out over Shiro and ready to defend him from any more oncoming assaults. But as he looked up, the Gladiator stood stationary and unmoving before descending back into the floor.

Allura and Adam strolled onto the combat floor, the others groaning as they picked themselves up off the floor. Adam couldn't help but feel some doubt about himself. How could he be so useless? Again!? This was a simple training exercise, and Shiro could have gotten seriously hurt. What if this hadn't been training? It could have been fatal!

But Keith…. He saved Shiro. He kept looking out for him, protecting him, and staying by his side. Back on Earth, he didn't hesitate to help save Shiro when he crashed down on Earth. Keith looked after him just like a brother would, and it tore Adam up inside. Even now, Keith immediately recognized that Shiro was distressed and put his own safety aside in exchange for protecting him. Why was it that Keith was always the one that was protecting Takashi? Why couldn't Adam ever be the one to do it? Even if they've had their issues in the past, shouldn't Adam be more important in his life?

Adam was starting to feel a little doubtful about himself. How much had he really helped any of them up until this point? Keith could have easily saved Shiro from the Garrison on his own. He had the skills for it. Adam didn't even save Keith back when they were on the Galra ship, the Red Lion did. And when the paladins needed to form Voltron, who's to say that Shiro wouldn't have been able to pull it off in the end? It was what he was best at after all. So, what had Adam actually done up to this point that could be considered useful?

Allura poke sternly as she addressed the paladins, "That combat simulator was set at a level fit for an Altean child! You're not even close to working as a team, let alone ready to face Zarkon!"

Adam looked over and saw Shiro still sitting on the ground. Adam made his way over to him, ignoring another one of Allura's tirades, and checking to make sure Shiro wasn't hurt or still suffering from his PTSD flash. He took off Shiro's helmet and pulled out a pen light out of his pocket, checking his pupil responses.

Shiro was about to insist that he was fine like he always did, but they were interrupted by Coran walking in and speaking enthusiastically, "Ahoy, young Paladins! I've whipped up a big batch of focusing food. After this meal, you'll be forming Voltron six times a movement and twice on the astral conflux!"

Allura conceded to let them eat and Shiro gently placed his hand on Adam's arm, making him lower the flashlight and silently insisting that he was okay. Shiro stood up on his own and walked past Adam, following the others and leaving him behind.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Everyone gathered into a large dining hall. There was a long running table, which was to be expected. Shiro and the others all sat on one side, Allura sitting at the head of the table. Adam joined them and sat next to Shiro as Coran served them plates of green goo. There was steam coming off of it, and a surprisingly pleasant aroma. What was this stuff anyway? It was served for every meal, but it was always different somehow.

"Smells great, Coran. Thanks," Shiro complimented.

Adam and the paladins reached for their silverware, and as they did so, small slots opened up in the table where robotic hands came out, slapping handcuffs on all of them. The cuffs connected them to each other, only leaving Pidge and Adam with a free arm since they were on the ends.

"Hold the phone!" Lance screeched out, pulling on the cuffs that connected him to both Keith and Hunk. Adam fidgeted with the cuff that bound him to Shiro and Hunk was pulling on Shiro's other arm as he tried to scoop a spoonful of food into his mouth before dropping it on the table.

Coran began explaining, "I saw a lot of solid individual performances today, but you're still struggling to work as a team. So, welcome to the final bonding exercise of the day!"

'Why the hell am I part of this!? I'm not even a paladin!" Adam complained.

"While you may not pilot a lion, your bond with the others will have an effect on how the paladins interact with each other," Coran said matter of factly. It caught Adam off guard, but he had to admit he was a little bit pleased at that assertion.

Hunk spoke as if he was talking someone down, "Coran, I want you to think about what you're doing."

Coran just ignored him and continued with enthusiasm, "This one's a classic. You get to feed each other, like a pack of yalmors!"

"Ow!" Hunk yelped. Lance had reached for his silverware, unintentionally pulling Hunk's hand and smacking it into the table.

"Sorry," Lance instinctively reached toward Hunk to comfort him, yanking Keith's arm along with him and making it fall into Lance's food bowl, "Ew! You defiled my food goo!"

"It's your fault!" Keith yelled, pulling his hand back, "This is ridiculous."

"Do Earthlings ever stop complaining?" Allura chided.

"Can't you just give us a break?" Shiro spoke calmly, "Everyone's been working really hard today." His words held a sense of care and appreciation. He genuinely valued how much effort everyone was putting forward. He caught on to the idea Adam presented rather quickly, and it made Adam wonder what he could possibly contribute now.

"Yeah!" Keith agreed with Shiro as usual, "We're not some prisoners for you to toy with, like... like...!"

"Like a bunch of toy prisoners!" Lance finished for him. It amazing that he was talking back to Allura considering his obvious crush. But even more shocking than that, he was siding with Keith.

"Yes! Thank you, Lance!" Keith nodded.

"Seriously?" Adam said. _What a lame comeback_.

"You do not yell at the Princess!" Coran screamed, ironically in Allura's ear.

"Oh, the princess of what?" Pidge finally spoke up, "We're the only ones out here and she's no princess of ours!"

Damn. That was a much better insult, maybe even a little biting. And it got the response it deserved, as Pidge was smacked in the face with food goo as soon as she finished speaking. Allura was standing and holding out a spoon that she had used to fling it at her. Well, that was a strange response for the princess.

Attached to her side, Keith urged Pidge on, "Go loose, Pidge!" Once Allura threw that piece of food goo, all of Keith's reservations about holding back went out the window. He handed Pidge his plate of food goo and she scooped up a large piece with her spoon, flinging it toward the princess.

Like a ninja, Coran stepped in front of her, pulling the tablecloth up to block the oncoming attack. He then swung a large ladle of food at them, unintentionally hitting Adam and all the other paladins. It was impressive to see that Coran could move like that, but he had made a huge mistake in hitting them all.

Hunk rose in his seat, wiping the goo off his face, "Oh, it's on now."

Hunk scooped up some food and launched it from his spoon, Lance and Shiro accommodating the movements he needed to make. Allura ducked out of the way, grabbing a plate of food and ducking behind a chair on the other side of the table. Keith and Pidge grabbed a whole plate and flung it at Coran. Adam scooped up a handful and tossed it at Allura. When she retaliated, he pulled Shiro in front of himself as a shield. Adam snickered, but was stopped when Shiro smashed a handful of food into his face as well. Adam was about to strike back at him, but when he looked up, he saw Shiro laughing at him with such genuine emotion. Adam felt his face heat up a little bit at the sight. When was the last time he saw Shiro laugh like that?

His laughter was cut off by a smack in the face from another scoop of food goo, snapping both him and Adam back to the battle at hand. They grabbed their plate of food, and struck back at Coran and Allura together. Before they knew it, the dining room was host to an epic food fight. Coran and Allura fought valiantly, having the advantage of being able to move freely and duck behind chairs for cover. The paladins had to compensate their movements as they were still tied together in order to dodge and launch attacks.

By the end of it, they were all a mess, the table was covered in food, and the chairs were knocked over on their sides. Allura slumped down into the only standing chair left, exhausted from their activities. The paladins all looked at each other and laughed. It was the first time since this whole thing had started that they had any fun. It was relieving.

"Enough!" Allura's biting voice cut through their laughter, "Do you see what you're doing? You're finally working together as one!" she perked up on her last sentence, showing some visible pride and enjoyment. It was a nice change from the constant criticism, that was for sure.

"Hey, she's right!" Keith said excitedly, looking at Lance with enthusiasm.

"I actually don't hate you right now," he said in return.

"You guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Hunk asked.

"Let's go form Voltron!" Shiro boomed with excitement.

"Yeah!" They all cheered.

"Actually, I was thinking dessert. But, yeah! Let's do it!" Hunk chimed in last minute, willing to be just as excited about that.

They got their cuffs removed and headed out to their lions, all of them riding high on their excitement. Once they got into position outside the castle, the paladins were all set to form Voltron.

"Everyone ready to do this?" Shiro asked seriously, hints of anticipation layered into his voice. Everyone cheered in agreement, "Then let's go!"

The lions took off into the sky, flying in formation like earlier. But this time, there was an energy and connection that fueled them. In a manner of moments, the lions took shape, and Voltron was created right before their very eyes. Allura and Coran watched from the control room, listening to them all chatter with enthusiasm.

"I told you I could get them to do it. They just needed a common enemy," Allura told Coran.

"It's true. Like the old proverb says, 'A man can be driven to do anything, if a beautiful woman is just really, really mean to him'," Coran asserted.

"Doesn't necessarily have to be woman," Adam said smugly. He'd had plenty of experience reprimanding Shiro to get him to take better care of himself or accomplish a task. Nothing like a little tough love to get someone motivated.

Coran stared at Adam for a second before reacting, not realizing that he was standing next to him the whole time, "…Ahhhhhhh! Where do you keep coming from!?"

"Coran, calm down," Allura dismissed.

"Pretty sneaky princess," Adam said, ignoring Coran once again, "Forcing them to team up against you was a smart move. I couldn't help but think you were being a little _too_ hard on them."

"So you knew?" she asked, impressed that Adam seemed to be in on her plan.

He shook his head, "Not at first. Your customs are still alien to us. I thought your hard-up approach to training might have just been how your society worked. But when Coran stuck me in the food eating exercise, that's when it clicked. There was no need to include me in the exercise because I'm not necessary in the formation of Voltron. You did it to separate our group from yours, making it easier for everyone to team up against you."

Allura's features softened, "You are wonderfully perceptive Adam," she complimented.

"It's just basic psychology, but thank you, princess," Adam brushed it off like it was nothing.

"You shouldn't disregard yourself so easily," she said, catching him off guard, "Whether you believe it or not, you have an important claim in the formation of Voltron. You have a close bond to at least two of them, and the relationships they have with those outside of Voltron are just as important. They are the foundation for which they can learn to form connections with others and come to trust one another."

Adam was dumbfounded. Could she be right? Did he really matter that much in the whole of things? Allura brought them the lions, warned them of the dangers to come, and gave them a common goal to form Voltron. Coran guided them, instructed them, and was a pillar of support in their training. It was easy to see how their relationships with the paladins contributed to the formation of Voltron. But…. what about Adam? Did he really have claim to stay here? What did Allura see in him that he couldn't see in himself?

Coran spoke up, pulling Adam from his thoughts, "With this, we can hopefully strive to improve their bond until they can form Voltron without a second thought."

"There is more they will need to overcome," Allura replied pointedly.

"I think I can help with that," Adam said. Even if he didn't fully realize what his purpose here was, he could at least try to find one. Besides, there was no way he was going to leave Shiro again, whether he needed him or not.

 **VVVVVVVV**

"Man, that was cool! I'm so charged up, I don't know if I'm going to be able to sleep tonight," Lance exclaimed, walking with the others on their way back from the hangar bay. They did some light training while they were in Voltron before disassembling and returning to the castle for the night.

Adam watched from the balcony of the staircase as they made their way toward their individual rooms.

"Not me. When my head hits the pillow, I'm going to be lights out," Keith replied. It was kinda nice to see Keith getting along with the others. He was usually so closed off, the only person he ever really let in was Shiro. That came from a sense of trust and admiration, but now he had three others he needed to trust and rely on, and it seemed to be breaking down his walls a bit.

Hunk came up behind them and threw his arms over Keith's and Lance's shoulders as they walked, "I just want you to know that I realized when we were in Voltron, we're brothers, man. You know? Like, we're totally connected. No secrets, no barriers, no nothing. Brothers all the way! I love you guys."

Adam tensed up slightly at Hunk's statement, and from his spot on the balcony, he could see Pidge had a similar reaction. She stopped walking, the others continuing without her.

"G-forces mess with your head a little bit?" Keith quipped, finding Hunk's enthusiasm a little out of character for the larger man. They walked on, not noticing that Pidge was staying behind.

Shiro, on the other hand, could tell right away that she was longer walking next to them. He stopped and turned toward her, "Going to bed, Pidge?" he asked a little concerned. He could tell she was troubled, but he wasn't sure what to say.

"In a minute," Pidge reassured him. She turned around and sat on the bottom step of the stairway, crossing her arms over her helmet that she sat in her lap.

Shiro leaned down and rested a hand on her shoulder, speaking assuredly, "Good work today. We're really coming together."

Pidge smiled appreciatively at him, letting him know that she was going to be fine. But as he walked up the steps, her smile faded away, and she stared up at one of the castle skylights in the ceiling. Shiro's concern did not waver, and when he saw Adam leaning over the balcony, he conveyed his emotions easily with just a look. Adam nodded, walking by him and down the steps.

He sat down by Pidge, about two steps higher since his legs were so much longer. He could feel her tense up slightly at his presence. That indicated that she was still guarding herself emotionally.

"You did good out there," Adam complimented, breaking the tension smoothly.

"Thanks," she replied, but that was all she said.

"You're thinking about them, aren't you?" Adam asked. It was obvious what was bothering her. She had been withdrawn all day, and it was interfering with her bonding with the others. She was still worrying about her family, and it was taking up all her focus. That became obviously apparent during the mind-meld exercise.

Pidge gasped lightly and turned her head up at him, not expecting Adam to read her so easily, "How… how could you tell?"

"You know how people say, 'I know how you feel,' when really they have no freaking idea how you feel?" Adam looked deeply into her eyes, his voice serious and full of meaning, "I know how you feel."

The intensity of his gaze made Pidge look back down at her hands, but the honesty in his voice prodded her to open up, "All I want is to find my family. Being part of Voltron, saving the universe, I'm not sure I care about all that. I just want to find my family," she scoffed, "I feel so selfish."

"Why?"

"Huh?" Pidge quickly looked up at Adam, surprised that he wasn't being more critical of her. But his face was neutral, if anything, genuinely curious.

"You want to find the people you love more than anything, and make sure they're safe. How is that selfish? Because you prioritize their lives over a group of people you just met and an intergalactic war that was never even yours?" He spoke with conviction. Pidge never expected Adam to have a point of view that supported what she was thinking.

"So, it's not bad that I feel like this?" she asked, wanting to reaffirm his stance.

Adam sighed, "Look, there was a time, long ago, where I could have protected someone I loved very much if I had just been a little bit more selfish. All I wanted was for him to stay by my side, but I conceded and let him go," Adam took a shaky breath, the memory weighing heavily on his mind, "And in the end…. I lost him. And it's one of the biggest regrets of my life," Adam's voice was gritted, holding back the pain that was flowing in his heart. He looked a little downtrodden, but otherwise he gave no indication of his grief.

"Are you talking about Shiro?" she asked cautiously. It was obvious what happened between the two of them, but somehow, it seemed like Adam was referring to someone different.

Adam shook his head, a small smile appearing on his face as he internally laughed at the irony of his life, "No, but I understand why you'd think that," He cleared his throat and continued on, "My point is, you should do whatever it takes to save your family, no matter what. And you shouldn't feel guilt over it. If I had the chance, I'd do anything it takes to go back and save mine."

"You lost your family?" Was that who he was really talking about?

Adam deflected the question, resting a hand on Pidge's shoulder and smiling, "I'm just saying….. I'll support you, if I can."

Pidge noticed how he had changed the subject. He must not have wanted to talk about it anymore. She decided to let it go, grateful for what he had done for her, "Thank you, Adam."

He dropped his hand from her shoulder, "You should get some rest before it gets too late. Coran said the prisoners will wake up tomorrow. I'm sure you'll want to talk to them."

Pidge livened up a little at that. Hopefully she could finally get answers. "Right. Good night Adam."

She trodded up the steps, feeling much better now than she had before. Shiro had promised that they would all help her, and Adam supported her wanting to put her family first. This Voltron situation threw a huge wrench in her plans, but at the same time, she was closer than ever to finding the answers she needed. She just needed to follow the leads that were right in front of her.

"Good night," Adam called after her. He felt better knowing that he had cleared up some of her doubts. She shouldn't have to feel so much pressure at such a young age. He was glad that he was able to talk her down, but doing so had stirred up some unpleasant memories in him. That seemed to be happening more and more lately. Was that his purpose here? To protect and look out for these kids at the expense of his own pain and suffering? He failed so many times to protect the people he loved before, maybe it's what he deserved. Maybe he needed to make amends by protecting and saving the lives of others, even if it cost him his own….

 **VVVVVVVV**

Deep in the forest on the planet of Arus, Sendak and his lieutenant marched through the woods. They had escaped into a pod with a handful of sentry bots before the ship blew up. When they ejected into space, Sendak redirected the pod to land on the planet's surface a fair distance from the castle.

"Sir, how are we going to take the castle with just the two of us and 5 damaged sentries?" his lieutenant questioned.

"By exploiting our enemy's weaknesses," Sendak reached the edge of a hill and brushed the foliage aside.

"What weaknesses?"

Sendak looked down the cliffs at a native alien species that was going about their daily lives. They were small humanoid creatures with large curved horn on their heads. Their very village was fairly large for the size of its inhabitants, but more importantly, it was a short distance from the castle, "The worst weakness of all. They value the lives of others."


	7. Fall of the Castle of Lions

**Chapter 6: Fall of the Castle of Lions**

 **One Year Ago**

SMACK! Adam fell back onto the ground, his hand pressed up against his cheek where Keith had just punched him. Keith stood over him, his posture slouched from delivering such a fierce attack, his chest heaving, and his face twisted up in pain and anger. For a kid who just turned seventeen, he hit incredibly hard.

"You're pathetic," Keith hissed. He looked so upset, like he wanted to cry out of anger.

Adam just laid there on the ground, holding himself up on his elbows. He was too dazed to truly be hurt by Keith's words. He was numb. Learning about what happened to Shiro, it made him feel like he was dead inside. The only proof that he could still feel was the slight sting from where Keith had struck him.

"He's gone Keith. He's not coming back," Adam said, his voice weak and tired.

"You're a real piece of work. It was one thing for you to try and force him to stay on Earth when he didn't want to, but giving up on him now is the worst thing you could ever do!"

Adam picked himself off the ground, looking down at him. This must have been just as hard on Keith as it was for him. Keith had no family left when Shiro found him, something Adam could relate to. With Shiro's help, Keith was enlisted in the Galaxy Garrison and had a new direction for his life. He often came by to visit them, seeking Shiro's guidance and support. And now he was hurting, unable to accept the truth that he was gone. But he needed to, and Adam felt like he owed it to him to be the one to tell him.

"Takashi was very sick Keith. If he got worse while he was up there, then it's possible that he made a fatal error."

"Not Shiro. He already told me about his sickness, and he wouldn't let that hold him down. He was too determined to let it stop him," Keith stood firm.

Adam was a little surprised Shiro had told Keith about his disease. He may have worn a medicinal injection bracelet, but Shiro was very private about his condition. He didn't like people to know about it whenever possible, and he hated when others brought it up as a point of contention. Despite himself, he could be quite prideful. It showed just how much he must have trusted Keith to tell him the truth. From the moment he got Keith admitted, they shared an instant connection. And now with how easily Keith took up for Shiro, it was almost like he saw him like an older brother.

"That's a very nice view of him Keith, but that's not reality. There are just some things that are out of our control. A lot of terrible things can happen in space, and we just don't know what could have happened to them up there," Adam spoke truthfully. He knew better than anyone what it was like to lose someone to the cruel depths of space.

Keith didn't back down, "That's right, anything could have happened. You have no idea if he's alive or not."

"Keith, he…" Adam started, but was interrupted before he could finish.

"But I choose to believe in him. He's out there somewhere, and I'm gonna convince Iverson that he's worth searching for," Keith started to storm off. He was passionate, but he was living in denial.

"Keith, please…" Adam reached for him, not wanting him to waste his time on fruitless efforts. He knew why Keith was acting this way. Having no friends or family, Shiro was probably the closest thing he had to either of those things in a long time. His fervent refusal to accept the truth was merely a result of not wanting to lose anyone else in his life. Adam sympathized with that, which is why he needed to be the one to convince him of the harsh reality. But Keith just brushed past him, not bothering to listen. He had lost all respect for Adam in that moment.

"I hope you're proud of yourself Adam. You were right. He would have been safer if he stayed on Earth with you," he pulled the door open, and right before he slammed it close, he said, "I hope that helps you sleep at night."

And just like that, Keith stormed off, never knowing the irony of his own words. From that day on, Adam wouldn't ever be able to sleep peacefully again. He would lie in bed at night, plagued by thoughts of Shiro or tormented by horrible nightmares. Something Keith never knew about Adam was how distressed he was over his past regrets. This moment in particular would haunt him for days to come. However, Keith's adamant belief in Shiro would also spark a glimmer of hope inside of him. One that would take time before he started to believe it himself, but would eventually be the catalyst to saving the person they both cared about most.

Unfortunately, Keith's passion would also result in him getting kicked out of the Garrison. Had he been a stronger person, maybe Adam could have prevented what was to come. They weren't that close, but he should have tried harder to look out for him. Instead, he let himself wallow in his own melancholy and desperation. It was just like Keith had said. He had given up. But for Shiro's sake, he should have at least tried to be there for Keith, and now he was hated by him. If only he had known the things to come, he would have done things much differently.

 **VVVVVVVV**

 **Present Day**

It was early in the afternoon when Adam strolled down to the main control room. Allura and Coran were nowhere to be found, but the others were coming in from outside.

"Great job training today, guys. We're really getting the hang of this," Shiro praised the young paladins as they strolled back into the control room.

"Seriously, how far do you think my lion kicked that broken alien ship? Must have been like a mile!" Lance spoke up excitedly. They were probably practicing coordinated attack strategies, so they were better prepared for future battles. And there was plenty of crashed Galra ships to use as target practice, so it sounded like a pretty smart idea.

"Yeah, that'll come in handy when the Galra challenges Voltron to a soccer match," Keith said sarcastically, his tone more playful than it had been before. He was starting to warm up to Lance and the others after their bonding experience yesterday, and it was beginning to show.

"Hey, I did something cool and you can't handle it. I get it," Lance shot back smugly.

"Your kick ruined our attack formation," Keith countered.

"Well that was Hunk's fault. He swerved into me!"

"Hey!" Hunk whined, getting worked up over being thrown under the bus.

"Alright, save your energy for fighting Zarkon," Shiro spoke up, enthused by the team's increased vigor, but still wanting to keep them focused.

Adam raised an eyebrow as he joined in the conversation, "Oh really? You're one to talk Shiro. I seem to recall needing to carry you to bed on several occasions because you were too exhausted from pushing yourself in training," he teased.

"Adam…" Shiro responded with a whine of embarrassment, that was also a little bit of growl telling him not to share anymore personal stories. Adam chuckled, happy to undermine Shiro's authority, even if it was just a little bit.

"Oh dang! Adam got him good!" Lance exclaimed, both entertained and impressed by the little exchange.

Keith scoffed, "It was just a cheap shot. Makes sense you'd enjoy it, since it's all you can do."

"You wanna go mullet head!?" Lance yelled, getting in Keith's face.

"Bring it on!"

Shiro sighed, "Adam, look what you started."

Adam smirked and patted his shoulder, "Relax. This is good for them. Trust me." There was nothing wrong with a healthy rivalry. From a psychological standpoint, it would increase their respect for each other and make them better fighters.

At that moment Coran walked in, chipper as usual and addressing the room, "Hello, guys! How was the workout?"

Happy for the distraction, Shiro turned his attention to him, "We're getting there. Are you and Allura almost done fixing the Castle so we can leave this planet? I feel like we're sitting ducks here on Arus."

"Ugh," Adam grunted in dissatisfaction, walking over to lean against the wall.

After they had defeated the Galra Cruiser, Allura and Coran noted that one of the castle's abilities was to leave the planet and launch itself into space. Adam would have thought that was crazy, if crazier things hadn't been happening left and right. And it did make sense. Allura had told them about how Zarkon had destroyed her entire planet, so it didn't make much sense for an Altean castle to be on another planet unless it could fly. _Yeah, flying castles. That's what makes sense!_ Adam quipped to himself.

Futuristic space technology aside, Adam wasn't exactly thrilled about their entire base of operations traveling through the cosmos. Although, he did feel more comfortable in an entire castle than he would in just a standard spaceship. He could take comfort in the numerous defenses this place offered to help him cope with his anxiety. So while he was still making peace with it, he couldn't quite hide his disdain.

"We're just about ready!" Coran answered, "In the meantime, I made you guys an authentic ancient paladin lunch!"

Coran pulled out a plate from behind his back and held it up, showcasing some kind of blue clusters that were steaming.

"Coran, you just got me hooked on that goo and now you're switching it up?" Hunk exclaimed.

"This is packed with nutrients," Coran happily stated, holding up the plate for Hunk to observe.

"Oh, it smells disgusting!" he pinched his nose, backing away once Coran held it up.

"I know! That's how you know it's healthy!"

Sometimes Adam wondered if Coran was a little too carefree. Hunk merely shook his head and went off to the kitchen to find an alternative source of food. Keith and Lance, who had still been butting heads in the background, walked off to the training floor to spar and work off some of their tension.

"Where's Pidge?" Adam asked, finally noticing that she was absent from the group.

"She flew down to the crashed Galra Cruiser," Shiro told him, "Pidge thinks there might be prisoner logs stored in their computers that could give her a lead on her family. That's assuming any of the tech still works though."

"She went alone?" Adam asked a little concerned. She was the youngest member of the group, and while she may have been a paladin, there could be hidden security measures or traps that were still active on the ship.

"I offered to go too, but she insisted on doing this herself," Shiro said, picking up on his concern, "She took Rover with her though." That was a little reassuring. Since it was a reprogrammed piece of Galra tech, it would most likely deactivate or help her avoid anything potentially harmful.

"Number 5 should be back soon. The prisoners will all be waking up in the infirmary anytime," Coran added on.

"Number 5?" Adam asked aloud, not having been present when Coran assigned their number designations.

"Coran's nickname ranking system so he doesn't have to learn our real names right away," Shiro responded.

"Right," Adam turned his attention back to Shiro, "Well, if you have the time, I want to talk to you about your blood results."

Without warning, Coran came up next to Shiro with a spoonful of food, holding it in front of his face and whishing it around like he was feeding a toddler, "Open the hatch. Food lion coming in!"

Shiro groaned, gently pushing Coran's arm out of the way as he started to walk with Adam, "No. Just... no."

"You don't know what you're missing!" Coran yelled, taking a bite himself and immediately looking like he was going to vomit.

Adam just laughed softly, "Haha. Nice to know I'm not the only one who treats you like a child."

Shiro crosses his arms and scowled, "You know I don't appreciate that."

"But you're only 6," Adam cooed, pinching Shiro's cheek. It was easy to make fun of him since he was born on a leap day.

Shiro smacked his hand away, "I regret telling you when my birthday is."

 **VVVVVVVV**

Shiro followed Adam into the medical office, leaning against the examination chair he sat in before, "Give me the news Doc."

Adam did a half laugh, half scoff, "Funny. Alright, go ahead and take off your shirt."

"Ha, I'm not falling for that again," Shiro waved him off, "So, how are my results looking?" he asked curiously, putting an end to their playful banter.

"I'm just finishing them up now," Adam told him, taking a blood slide and examining them under an oddly shaped microscope, "Hmm. I was right."

"What is it?" Shiro asked, unsure if there was something wrong with his blood, or if Adam just didn't know how to use the medical supplies in here.

Adam's focused intensified on the sample he was examining, speaking as he kept his nose pressed to the scope, "There's a substance here in your blood that I can't identify. But… It looks like it's suppressing your condition just like I theorized."

Shiro shook his head, bewildered and confused, "I don't understand. Does that mean I'm cured?"

"No. Your disease is still prominent in your blood, but this substance seems to be stalling the effects," he moved away from the sample, looking over at Shiro seriously, "Based on what I can tell, it's accelerating the regeneration of your cells."

"But, where did it come from?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say your arm is providing the supplement," Adam said, gesturing toward Shiro's mechanical extremity, "I can't say for sure, but I had my suspicions. Some of the scars on your body should be way more severe based on their size and the impact area, but most of them are shallow and have healed smoothly. And since you couldn't take your medication while you were a prisoner, your arm is the only new variable to your biology."

"So, you think it's healing me?" This was crazy. Shiro was having a hard time wrapping his head around it, but at the same time, how could he argue?

"More or less. What I don't understand is why the Galra would bother doing this for a prisoner," Adam noted.

That was bothering Shiro as well. His sudden memory loss was frustrating. The prisoners recognizing him, his ability to fight with his mechanical arm, the title 'Champion'; it was all bearing down on his mind like an unsolvable puzzle. Just who was he before he crashed back down on Earth?

"I don't know. I wish I could remember, but all I have are pieces," Shiro held his mechanical arm in his human hand, uncertain why he had been given this feat of technology, "So, how much time is this going to give me?" he asked. If this arm was really healing him, then it stood to reason that it would give him more time before his body started to atrophy.

Adam sighed, grabbing his necklace and fidgeting with it while he thought. Shiro took notice of that. And obvious sign that he was nervous, "I can't really say for sure. If these changes to your blood remain consistent, it will give you several years before your condition starts to deteriorate again."

At those words, Shiro suddenly felt lighter. The pressure that had been pressing down on him since he was a teenager seemed less intense. He couldn't help but feel a little excited, albeit a little dazed, "I…I don't know what to say. I always wanted more time to live my life normally, but now that I have it, I'm not sure how I feel."

"It's a dramatic life change. It's okay if you're overwhelmed," Adam said comfortingly.

"I guess, I'm giddy," Shiro settled on, his face brightening up, "With this extra time, I can be a part of Voltron for a long time. I can help to liberate the universe and save people. I can make a difference," Shiro clenched the fist of his mechanical arm, making a statement to himself and thankful that something so wonderful had come out of the pain he suffered through.

"I see," Adam shifted to look over Shiro's blood results again.

So that's what was important to Shiro. Space. The mission. It was just like before, except now there were no qualms about it. Adam should've figured really. It was always Shiro's dream to travel the stars and make a difference in the world. And now being a part of Voltron, he had a chance to do all of that. And Adam just told him that he could do it for even longer than he ever expected. How could he not be over the moon?

But what was surprising, was how much Adam felt hurt over Shiro's choice of priority. It was a noble cause, and a righteous fight that could benefit countless lives. He shouldn't feel upset at Shiro for wanting to be a part of that, but he did. Not only that, but the mission was the only thing that was on his mind. His disease had been one of several factors that resulted in their breakup over a year ago, and now it was rendered a moot point. Yet, Shiro didn't have one single thought directed at Adam in the wake of this revelation. It's not like it should bother him. They weren't a couple anymore. Shiro had no obligation to consider Adam's feelings in all this. So did why it hurt so much that he didn't?

Shiro seemed to notice the resignation in his voice, his smile faltering as he reached out towards him, "Adam, I…"

Adam cut him off, not wanting to hear whatever heartfelt thing Shiro was going to say, "I want to run more tests on your arm when we have the time. And I want to continue to monitor your condition. We don't know if these effects are permanent or not, or if this arm is affecting you in any other way. I'd prefer to stay cautious."

Shiro faltered, dropping his hand to his side to rest on the bench, "Right. Better to be safe," he looked down, feeling a little guilty at his own exuberance. He shouldn't have been so overtly excited without considering there might be a drawback.

Adam looked over to see the wounded expression on his face, and he sighed. _He's like a damn puppy_ , "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put a damper on things."

Damn it. Why did Adam have to feel such devotion to someone that didn't even reciprocate those deeper feelings anymore? Better question, why did he have to fall in love with such an idiot!?

"No, you're right," Shiro assured him, "We should be thorough. Still, the idea of having more time. It's amazing."

"There is a potential catch though." Adam spoke reluctantly. After taking a moment to reexamine his bloodwork, Adam realized something that he wasn't too thrilled to be sharing, "Your cells are regenerating faster than your disease is causing them to degenerate, so your body is working overtime to keep itself healthy."

"But I don't feel any different. Shouldn't I be worn out if my body is pushing itself like that?"

Adam shook his head, "Maybe at first, but you likely adapted to the changes to your body over time. Still though, that doesn't mean you aren't still vulnerable. If you sustain any serious injury, it could put a huge strain on your body, more than it can take. Without medical treatment, you could slip into a coma… or worse."

Shiro sighed, letting that information settle for a minute before finally saying, "So, try not to die and treat any wounds I get. Sounds pretty simple. Good thing I got a doctor on hand." He spoke offhandedly, trying to lighten the news with his classic dark humor.

Adam's brow furrowed, a little pissed off that Shiro wasn't appreciating the gravity of the situation, "Do you even…"

"Sorry to interrupt!" Coran burst in before Adam had a chance to ream Shiro. Coran was starting to become the king of sudden entrances, "Thought you'd like to know the prisoners are about to wake up! And Number 5 is already back and ready to talk to them."

"Thanks Coran," Shiro nodded, watching him turn to leave.

Adam pulled off his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose to alleviate the tension, "You should, uh, you should go on ahead. I'll catch up."

Shiro was apprehensive, but he knew it would be best to leave things as they were for now. Adam was clearly falling into one of his moods, and it was best to let him sort things out for himself.

"Alright," he stood up, and exited the office to meet up with Pidge.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Pidge stood in the central bay, watching the rejuvenation pods patiently for the prisoners to wake up. It was killing her, thinking they may know something about her family. She had downloaded information from the Galra ship, but it needed some time to decrypt before she could check it. But the prisoners were about to wake up any second, and she could hardly keep herself contained. After a year of searching and waiting, the answers she was looking for were finally within her grasp.

"You're as anxious as me," Shiro said, surprising her as he entered the room. She was so on edge that his sudden appearance startled her. Coran shuffled in behind him, walking over to the monitors to check on the prisoner's condition.

"These aliens we saved know something about my family. They have to!" Pidge stated firmly. She couldn't accept any other reality.

"I hope so," Shiro agreed. Personally, he had an investment in what they knew as well.

"They recognized you, didn't they?" she asked, vocalizing exactly what he was thinking, "They called you 'Champion.' What does that even mean?"

"I don't know. I can't remember very much from that time. But the way those guys looked at me when we freed them..." Shiro's brow furrowed in thought, thinking back to how quickly he dispatched those robotic soldiers. He destroyed them so easily. Brutally. And he didn't even realize they were robots until after. it troubled him, "I don't know if I want to find out."

With a sudden hiss, their conversation ended. The rejuvenation pods began to open, and the prisoners gasped, waking up from their long rest.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Adam walked through the main hall of the castle toward where the Galra prisoners were being kept. His mind was filled with thoughts over his conversation with Shiro. He was about to say something to Adam before Coran interrupted him, and he couldn't help wondering what it was. Should he even care though? He loved Shiro, but it seemed like he was always going to come second to whatever ambitions Shiro held in his heart. Just like before.

They had both been so selfish back then. Shiro left Adam behind to go to space, and Adam forced him to choose between his dream and their relationship. Adam excused his behavior by rationalizing it as a way to protect the person he loved most. But that didn't make it right. The situation back then had reflected the tragedy of Adam's past all too closely, and it scared the hell out of him. His only way of coping was to offer an ultimatum that ended up pushing Shiro away. And Shiro just left without a second thought. He chose to leave Adam behind, and it resulted in all of this. That moron. Even when Adam conceded to let him go, begging him to come back safe, he managed to fuck that up too! _Calm down Adam. You already had that conversation._

Adam's thoughts were in flux. On one hand, he blamed Shiro for running off and leaving him behind, placing a higher value on his personal goals than the person he claimed to love. But on the other hand, Adam had been acting cold and irrational at that time, probably pushing Shiro away in the first place when he didn't need to. There were so many layers to this argument, with no one particular cause or person at fault, and it pissed Adam off! It would be so much easier to just blame Shiro for everything. It was a good way to relieve stress after all. And while he would have liked to do that, he couldn't in good conscience believe it. If anything, he probably blamed himself more, since his ultimatum was the breaking point for everything that happened.

Despite himself, he cared about Shiro very deeply, for multiple reasons that weren't all necessarily romantic. And while he may have secretly yearned for something more than this complacent friendship they found themselves in, he couldn't allow himself to have that. Things were way too complicated between them now. Both of them having gone through various changes and trauma in the year they were apart. And the biggest obstacle of all was that Adam still had no idea how Shiro really felt about him now. Did he still value the mission over Adam, or had that changed? Based on their conversation in the medical bay, it didn't seem likely. But what were Adam's feelings compared to a mission that could save the whole universe? Probably not much. It's not like he thought he was insignificant to Shiro, he just knew that he wasn't the most important thing on his mind.

Still, it didn't stop Adam from pondering what Shiro might've wanted to say to him. And it hurt any less when Shiro had failed to spare Adam a thought upon hearing he had more time to live his life without worrying about his disease. It was all so frustrating. He wished he could just let it all go. Contemplating his emotions over and over again while trying to figure out what he wanted, it was starting to give him a headache.

All this weighed heavily on his mind as he made his way down the stairs toward the central bay. As he passed by the grand hall where they had first entered the castle, Adam saw Allura and the other paladins gathered by the castle doors. Curious, he walked over to them to see what they were up to.

Seeing him approach, Allura walked up to him happily, "Adam, the paladins and I are going to visit a local Arusian village. Would you like to come with us?"

"Wait, Arusians?" Adam asked perplexed. There were other lifeforms on this planet? He had just assumed it was isolated and desolate. There was foliage and water here, sure, but he didn't think there were any aliens around sophisticated enough to have villages.

"Yes, a species indigenous to this island. After you and Shiro departed from the training floor, one of them approached the castle this morning," she explained.

Lance jumped into the conversation excitedly, "Yeah, all the blasting and flying drew their attention, so they want to see us!"

"For what, to tell us to keep the noise down?" Adam joked.

"I'm actually not quite sure," Allura contemplated, taking his comment seriously.

"That's just an Earth joke Allura," Adam explained, shaking his hand to urge her to not to think about it too much.

"Oh, I see," she said, feeling a little foolish at her mistake.

"Don't worry about it," he assured her, "You guys all go ahead. I want to check on the Galra prisoners with Shiro and Pidge."

Allura nodded, "Very well. We will return shortly once we learn what the local Arusians have to say. Coran will be in charge while I am away."

"Take care," Adam waved them off as they departed, turning to meet up with Shiro and Pidge.

That's right. There were bigger issues here than just his personal feelings. He had resigned himself to looking after Shiro and the others, and that's what he needed to focus on. He made his choice, and it brought him here. What mattered now was seeing where this path would take him. Adam steeled his resolve and moved forward, leaving his troubled thoughts behind.

 **VVVVVVVV**

As Adam entered the lounge on his way to the central bay, he saw the Galra prisoners had been brought here to rest. There were seated on the couches, and some had blankets thrown over their bodies. Coran was bringing in drinks for them as Pidge and Shiro sat across from them, talking to the old man they had told them all about. Adam leaned against the wall, wanting to hear what he had to say without intruding on their space.

"So, how long were you held captive by Zarkon?" Pidge asked. This conversation must have just started based on her question.

"Some for years. Decades, maybe. It's hard to tell. Time becomes a blur," he spoke wearily. Even after the time spent in the healing pods, they must have still been weak from their incarceration. There was no telling what kind of burden that would place on a person.

"Then you must have been there when my dad and brother arrived. Sam and Matt Holt?" Pidge pressed. She was desperate for answers, and it left her with no subtlety.

The old man nodded, "I never knew their names, but I certainly remember the other two Earthlings that arrived with the Champion," he gestured to Shiro as he spoke.

Shiro shifted a little uncomfortably, something about the word registering deep in his mind that he couldn't recall, "Why do you keep calling me that?"

The old man was stunned, "You really don't remember? Unbelievable! You were a legendary gladiator, undefeated in the ring. You defeated an infamous Galra gladiator known as Myzax. That was the day you earned the name 'Champion.' I was there, as was the young Earthling."

So that was it! That's why Shiro knew how to fight with his Galran arm. It's probably why he was given one in the first place. Shiro was a gifted soldier and an expert in combat, and the Galra probably didn't want to lose such a valuable fighter and source of entertainment to a human disease.

"Matt!" Pigde's chest tightened with anticipation at the mention of another Earthling.

The old man went on, "We were all prisoners, forced to fight for the entertainment of Zarkon. That day, we were set to fight Myzax, a vile beast many thought could never be defeated. Slaughter awaited us all. This 'Matt' was the first of us sent to fight, but fate had other plans," he looked at Shiro intently, his expression serious, "You were so thirsty for blood, you injured your fellow Earthling."

Shocked, Pidge stood up and turned to Shiro, her face riddled with anger, "You attacked my brother? Why?!"

Shiro looked horrified at the accusation, like his whole world had just come crashing down, "No, it can't be true. There's got to be more to the story. I… I couldn't have hurt my friend."

Shiro was a noble person. He must have done it for some reason. Being heartless or bloodthirsty just wasn't in his nature. Adam moved over to Pidge, wanting to tell her to ease off. He placed his hand on her shoulder, which she immediately swatted away.

Not wanting to waste time on Shiro, she turned back to the prisoners, "After my brother was injured, where was he taken?"

"I know not," the old man said.

Frustrated and angry, Pidge looked down at Shiro again, "Why would you hurt my brother? You were friends, weren't you?"

"I was there. We all were," the old man asserted, offering the answers they needed, "When this 'Matt' was chosen to go first, you attacked him. Your bloodthirst was evident, but you whispered something to him as you were pulled away into the ring."

"I… I did it to save him," Shiro said, his eyes glazing over slightly. The intensity of this situation must have triggered his memory.

Adam was thinking the same thing just as Shiro said it too. It was very much like him to be self-sacrificing. And if the Galra were watching prisoners fight for sport, there would be no entertainment in seeing an injured boy get immediately cut down. It was amazingly genius quick thinking really.

"What?" Pidge was bewildered.

Shiro sat up, more confident in himself as he talked his way memory, "My memory of the event came back. Your dad was being sent off with the weaker prisoners to a work camp. Meanwhile, Matt and I were forced to fight in the gladiator ring. Matt was going to fight first, but he was scared. We all were. I injured him so he wouldn't have to fight."

"You saved him. You attacked him so they would choose you instead," Pidge said aloud, letting the information sink in before she reacted, jumping toward Shiro and hugging him, "I'm so sorry I doubted you! Thank you. Thank you so much!"

Shiro gently embraced her, resting his hand on her shoulder due to their height difference, "I can tell you really miss them. I know they miss you, too. Your brother and father would be proud of you, Katie."

Pidge gasped, stepping back from Shiro and looking at him with surprise.

"I remember, your brother talked about you a lot. He never said anything about a little brother before, but he used to gush over his little sister," he smiled at her, "Don't worry, your secret's safe with us."

Adam nodded at her when she looked over at him for assurance. There must have been an interesting story behind why Pidge needing to fake her identity. What's more, she faked her records well enough to get enrolled in the Garrison as a legitimate student. It was truly impressive. But that was a story that would have to wait for another time.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Once the prisoners had told them all they could, and Shiro and Pidge made amends, Coran guided them to a shuttle ship in their hangar bay. Pidge left to check on the data she had retrieved, while Adam and Shiro went to go see the prisoners off. Coran and Shiro offered to let them stay, but the prisoners had their own families and loved ones to find. And while they may have been captured, and some of their home planets conquered, there were refuge planets that they wanted to find. No one could exactly argue with that. While they may have been safer staying in the castle, they deserved the chance to make their own choices and find they people they cared about most.

As they gathered onto the shuttle with some supplies and food, the old man once again turned to them, "Thank you all for everything. We never dreamed we'd see our families again. But you gave us hope. You give the universe hope."

They bowed in appreciation as the shuttle closed. Seeing them off felt rewarding in a way. Adam couldn't deny that he liked the way it made him feel, giving people a second chance. Or, aliens in this case. Either way, it was nice to give them the chance to find their families.

After the prisoners departed, they all walked out into the grand hall to a rather strange sight. Allura and the other paladins had returned, but with a herd of small ram-horned aliens in tow. They were rather short, only going up to the paladins' knees in height. Adam might have mistaken them for animals had it not been for their bipedal movements and the clothes they wore. These must have been the Arusians that Allura was talking about earlier.

They went down to greet them, stepping carefully so as not to kick or step on any of the alien villagers. Allura told them that the Arusians had actually heard of Voltron and worshipped it almost like a god. It took a little convincing from Allura to set them straight on that matter, but they still revered the paladins as divine warriors. When she informed them that they would be leaving the planet soon, they insisted on throwing a giant celebration.

Delighted at the prospect of an alien banquet, they all worked together to set up tables and carry in food that the Arusians were bringing over. Not too long after, there was a huge congregation of them partying in the grand hall. Keith and Hunk were posted next to the buffet table, eating a variety of small multi-colored foods. It was a fascinating sight to see Keith getting on so well with the others. He was usually a recluse, but he was engaging in light conversation with passing Arusians and chatting happily with Hunk. Although to be fair, Hunk was the most emotionally expressive and vulnerable of the group, so maybe Keith felt more at ease around him. Despite their tension, Adam thought it was kinda nice to see Keith laughing for once.

Lance was busy showing off for the Arusians, swinging his bayard around and striking unnecessary poses. He definitely had a deep-seated need for approval, or an inflated ego that he needed to appease on a consistent basis. But considering how hard he took Keith's initial indifference towards him, it was likely the former. And these Arusians provided the perfect audience to satisfy his need for attention. Still, it was nice to see him having a good time as well. Allura was perched on the balcony, watching over the paladins as they mingled and enjoyed themselves. Coran had been pulled away by Pidge some time ago, but their absence was hardly noticeable due to all the hustle and bustle.

And as for Shiro, he was busy playing with a group of what Adam were assumed were Arusian children. They were smaller than the others and they were climbing on him while they laughed and giggled. With such a large body frame, he was like a human jungle gym for the kids to climb all over. Adam watched from the balcony, taking delight in watching Shiro bumble around as he tried to placate all the little ones. He was so cute, doing his absolute best to keep the kids entertained. He may have been a dedicated soldier, but he was also a sweet man, with a kind face to go with it.

Adam shook his head. Damn it. He was totally just fawning over Shiro. He needed to remind himself of the complications in their relationship. He shouldn't swoon over him so easily.

Before Adam had a chance to contemplate that any further, Pidge came out into the grand hall and collected Shiro. She looked serious, as if there was something she wanted to share. Noticing that Shiro was being pulled away, both Hunk and Keith followed after them. Pidge also collected Allura, and Adam followed suit, needing to know what was going on. He looked down at Lance to signal him to stay with the Arusians, but saw that Coran had already joined him. They were loud and vivacious enough to make up for the loss of the others, so they had some time before their absence was noticed. Adam left them to entertain the guests, following after the others to see what Pidge had to say.

 **VVVVVVVV**

As they all gathered in the hangar bay, Pidge stood next to a shuttle pod that looked like it had just been prepped for departure. With all their questioning eyes, she began to explain her situation, and the lead she had on her family.

"The download from the Galra ship was enough to get me in the right direction to start my search. I have definite leads to go on now, and I'm going to find my family. I have a pod all ready to go," Pidge said, determined to set out on her own.

"You can't leave," Keith said, the irritation evident in his voice.

Pidge turned to him, not appreciating his aggressive tone, "You can't tell me what to do."

That just seemed to spurn Keith on more, "If you leave, we can't form Voltron. And that means we can't defend the universe against Zarkon. You're not the only one with a family. All these Arusians have families. Everyone in the universe has families!"

Adam eyed Keith curiously. It was a strange statement for Keith to make considering everything Adam knew about him. Keith didn't have anyone except for the mentorship he got from Shiro. His father had passed away years ago, and as far as Adam knew his mother was a mystery. Keith didn't really make friends easily either. Maybe he thought this group of oddballs was a chance at forming bonds with people that couldn't leave or turn their backs on him. It would explain why he was getting so angry.

Hunk chimed in awkwardly, increasing the tension "Yeah, I have a family. They live on Earth. I want to be with them. Is that, like, a thing that can happen?"

Allura spoke up, clearly disheartened by the course this conversation was taking, "You want to leave, too?"

"Of course I do!" Hunk replied honestly, "Look, Voltron is super-cool, don't get me wrong, but I never signed up for a lifetime in space, fighting aliens."

"Seconded," Adam chimed in, voicing his distaste for their current situation.

"No one asked you to come Adam!" Keith shouted. Adam shouldn't have been surprised that he was the one that Keith snapped at. In fact, it was pretty much warranted, "You gave up a long time ago. And now Pidge is putting the lives of two people over the lives of everyone else in the entire galaxy!"

Keith's words were biting, but they weren't untrue. It was strange that he wasn't more supportive of her cause though. He had been so resolute when it came to saving Shiro's life, someone that was incredibly important to him; but he wasn't very tolerant of Pidge wanting to do the same for her family. Although, the only stakes involved in his case was Shiro's own safety. His choices didn't affect the lives of others or put them at risk. If anything, he seemed to have the same values as Shiro did, valuing the majority over the individual.

"Keith, that's not how a team works," Shiro finally stepped in. Keith immediately backed down upon hearing his stern tone, "People have to want to be a part of it. They can't be forced," Shiro turned to Pidge, switching to a more gentle voice, "If you want to leave, we won't try to stop you. But, please, just think about what you're doing."

Pidge looked down, a little more somber upon hearing the pleading in Shiro's voice. She knew he supported her and wanted to help, but this was a chance she couldn't pass on. Adam taught her that, "I'm sorry. You're going to have to find someone else to pilot the Green Lion," she walked out of the hangar bay to pack, Hunk following after her. Allura turned to head back out to the banquet, devastated that the team she was putting her faith in didn't even want to be here. Keith huffed, following after her into the hall, leaving Adam and Shiro alone.

Shiro took a deep breath, stressed out by this turn of events. Adam leaned against the shuttle, watching him curiously, "That was an interesting perspective Takashi."

"What is?" Shiro asked, turning to face him and not bothering to comment on how Adam had addressed him.

Adam crossed his arms, "Asking her to think about not leaving. Seems kind of hypocritical coming from you."

Shiro sighed. So that's where this was heading. It was the conversation they had been ignoring, but it was bound to come up sooner or later, "I know what you're getting at Adam, and that's not fair. I did think about it."

"Right," he said, remembering the moment when Shiro had told him as much, "But you still went anyway."

"I did. It's what I wanted. It's what I needed," Shiro told him. The use of the word 'need' was an interesting choice. He made it sound like he was accomplishing something just by leaving, like he needed to get away from Adam. But that wasn't the whole truth.

"And I'm the villain for trying to make you stay?" Adam asked, expressing one of his greatest concerns.

Shiro looked up at him, genuinely shocked by the question, "I never said that. I never thought that," Shiro declared steadfast. Adam was surprised by how fervently Shiro spoke. All this time, he couldn't help but think that Shiro resented him for placing the burden of choice on him. He had blamed Shiro for for leaving in the first place, and he had expected Shiro to do the same to him. Adam had let his own insecurities push him to make a terribly selfish choice to force Shiro to stay after all.

"I was just trying to protect you back then," Adam said, feeling like he still needed to defend his motivations. Even if Shiro didn't hold a grudge against him, he still held one against himself. There had to have been a better way to look out for Shiro back then. Even with good intentions, he went about it the wrong way.

"I don't need you to protect me Adam," Shiro said, slightly exasperated. It was exactly what he had said a year ago, and so many times before that. All Adam had ever wanted to do was look out for him. But Shiro seemed to have an innate desire to push harder and harder, all while refusing to accept his help.

"Why won't you let me?" Adam spoke, his voice almost cracking under the weight of all those memories, and the pain that came with them.

Shiro saw the melancholy in Adam's face and turned his head away, unable to look at him, "Things are different now Adam. There's so much more at stake here than my safety. Things more important than you or me," Shiro hardened his resolve, trying not to betray his feelings.

That's what Adam had told himself moments ago, yet here they were, having this conversation again. It just seemed inevitable. And it proved that Shiro not only held the mission in higher regard than his opinion of Adam, but he also held it higher than his own life. It was a way of thinking any good soldier would have, and Shiro was a great soldier. What an Idiot.

Adam moved forward and walked past him, stopping at Shiro's side to speak to him and spare him the pain of seeing Adam's wounded expression, "Do you regret it?... Leaving Earth?"

It was a strange question to ask, but he felt like he might glean more from this answer instead of circling around the same questions over and over.

Shiro stood in place, feeling Adam's presence next to him like a wave of heat. He spoke softly, "I'm not sure. All the good that has come out of it, I'm not sure it outweighs the bad…. The regrets."

"Am I one of those regrets?" he asked, almost hopeful for what his answer would be. _Or am I the good?_

Shiro turned toward Adam, their faces only a small distance apart as he looked deep in his eyes, "You gave me a choice Adam, and I chose," he answered, sidestepping the question.

Adam felt the weight of those words crash down on his heart, confirming what he had feared for the past few days. Or rather, what he had known since that day over a year ago. Shiro made the selfish choice to leave, but only because Adam was too scared and insecure to let him go in the first place. Shiro probably felt smothered under him, and by coolly offering him the chance to leave, he only made it easier for Shiro to pack his bags and go. Adam took a shaky breath, ready to walk away, "Yeah, you did. So, I guess in the end, that's my fault."

He felt the cool metal of Shiro's arm grab his hand, keeping him from leaving, "Adam I…"

"You don't have to say anything Takashi," Adam cut in, not willing to turn around or let him finish a sentence that would break his heart even more, "I wasn't fair to you back then. I shouldn't have tried to control. I was angry, but it's my fault our relationship ended."

"It wasn't your fault. I don't blame you for any…." Shiro tried to say. If anyone knew the motivations behind Adam's actions, it was Shiro. He was the one person Adam felt like he could confide in; and right now, that felt like a huge mistake. He was going to be supportive and understanding, just like he always was. And that wasn't something Adam couldn't handle right now.

He cut back in, not giving Shiro a chance to finish, "I know it was wrong to make you choose, but at the end of the day, I still wasn't your choice," he pulled his hand free from Shiro's grip with ease, his fingers sliding out and his hand falling loosely to his side as he made his way towards the door.

"So, are you going to leave?" Shiro asked, afraid that he might lose one of the people closest to him.

He walked away from Adam a long time ago, but that didn't mean he wanted to. In a way, Shiro felt like he had too. He didn't want to waste away and become a burden that Adam would have to put up with the for the rest of his life. He deserved better than that, but that was the inevitable direction his life had been headed. So, when Adam offered him the ultimatum, Shiro went down the path that he hoped would spare him the most pain. In a way, he did it for both himself and for Adam. But if Adam hadn't offered him the chance, he never would have been strong enough to breakup with him on his own. So in a roundabout way, it was Adam's fault their relationship ended. But Shiro was the one to pull the trigger. Maybe now it was Adam's turn to walk away?

If anything, Shiro was the one who should be carrying the most guilt. He convinced himself he was doing it to protect Adam by leaving, but that didn't make it right. Adam was blaming himself so much for what happened between them, but Shiro felt like it was his own fault. Deep in his heart, he knew he was just too proud and scared to let Adam see him wither away into a pathetic mess. He wanted his lover to remember him fondly, instead of having to suffer through the years of care that Shiro would require. And in the pursuit of his own self-interest, he had caused all of this. He had broken Adam's heart, got captured, and started this whole mess that was now burdening them all. He really was an idiot, just like Adam always said.

But he couldn't tell him any of this. If he did, Adam might hate Shiro even more, or worse, he might forgive him. And he didn't feel like he deserved Adam's forgiveness. After all the pain he caused, he needed to atone for what he'd done. Saving the universe and protecting the lives of others at the potential cost of his own, it was the perfect shot at redemption. That needed to be his focus now. And while all he really wanted was to reconcile with Adam, and feel the warmth of his love again, he couldn't justify earning back that love. He would just have to settle for their complacent friendship, knowing they both meant a lot to each other, but never being able to be together.

Adam stopped at the door as he answered Shiro's question, "I'm not going anywhere Takashi. I may not have signed up for this fight, but I I'm not leaving you. I have nowhere else to go," he paused and rested his hand on the door before finally saying, "I'm sorry." He pressed the panel next to the door to open it and left.

Shiro felt like his heart had been ripped into pieces, the internal conflict threating to bring tears to his eyes, "Don't be. I was selfish too."

 **VVVVVVVV**

As Adam walked back into the hall, and the door sealed behind him, a voice making him pause, "That was surprising."

Adam looked over his shoulder to see Keith leaning against the door frame. He felt a twinge of irritation, not appreciating that someone had decided to eavesdrop on such an intimate conversation, "You were listening to us?"

"Never thought I'd hear you admit to being wrong. Especially not to Shiro," Keith spoke, ignoring the question and coming to stand in front of him. Keith wasn't giving off much emotion like usual, but it was clear from his stance that he wanted to confront Adam.

"Just leave me alone Keith," Adam declared, pushing past him to leave.

"What did you mean, about not having anywhere to go?" Keith called out after him.

Adam stopped dead in his tracks. Had he asked any other question, Adam would have just ignored it and kept walking. But this was a loaded question. One that was personal in a way that only Keith would ever understand. Adam turned to face Keith properly, residing to answer him, "Just what I said. I don't have any family left to go back to, and I hated being at the Garrison. Even the friends I've made there would be better off without me. I have no reason to go back."

Keith was stunned by how bluntly Adam admitted his feelings. His stance became more relaxed, unfolding his arms as he asked his next question, "So why where you even there?"

"I enrolled in the Garrison for personal reasons. I guess you could say I was trying to atone for something in my past. I hated it, but as luck would have it, I turned out to be a prodigy. In fact, it was one of the things I used to think you and I had in common."

Keith was hesitant. Given their history, it was hard to think he and Adam had anything in common. But they didn't talk much before this, and Adam's story did sound similar to his. They had no family to speak of, and Keith wasn't exactly receptive of Garrison authority either. Not only that, but Shiro was the most important person in their collective lives, "I suppose so," Keith conceded, accepting Adam's compliment.

Adam watched as Keith's body language became more uncertain, as if he was feeling guilty over pressuring Adam into this conversation. If only Shiro were so easy to read.

"What Takashi said about needing to _want_ to be part of a team, it's not exactly true," Keith looked up at him confused, "I never wanted to be in the Garrison, but I felt like it was something I had to do. I don't want to be part of this ancient alien war, but I can't just go back home and ignore it either," Adam turned his head to look back at the direction of the hangar door, "Pidge is lucky. Having family to search for, it's better than what some of us still have."

Keith couldn't deny that, even if it was selfish on her part, but the reason Adam was staying sounded so… empty, "So, you're here because you've got nothing else better to do, is that it?" Keith asked, not entirely understanding what Adam was trying to convey.

"Not exactly," Adam shrugged, "More or less, I'm here for Shiro. Even though we're not together anymore, he's all I really have left."

Keith shifted uncomfortably. Adam figured his feelings for Shiro was something Keith could easily relate to. Man, this kid was really bad at hiding his emotions.

"He's a different person now," Keith spoke firmly, as if he was defending Shiro's character somehow, "You don't need to protect him."

Adam smirked, hiding the all too familiar pain those words entailed, "Strange sentiment coming from someone who always tries save him."

Keith didn't appreciate how Adam was coming off as condescending, speaking up with more vigor than before, "I'm just looking out for the people I care about. He doesn't need…"

"I know," Adam cut him off, completely serious. He didn't need to hear it again, "Believe me, I know. If I'm being honest… I'm envious."

"Envious?" Keith asked, more confused than ever before. What could he possibly envy? Adam had always been the closest one to Shiro before the Kerberos mission. How could Adam possibly envy him when he had Shiro all to himself for years before Keith had even met him? All the time they had spent together, he no doubt knew more about Shiro than Keith ever would. His own relationship with him couldn't compare with that. It didn't make sense.

Adam laughed, but it wasn't a genuine one, "We care about Takashi in different ways Keith, let's just leave it at that."

Before Adam moved to leave, Keith asked one final question, "Are you still in love with him?"

Adam froze, unsure of how to respond. It was true he still had strong feelings for Shiro, but did that count as love anymore? Especially after everything he knew now. Everything between them was in the past. Shiro was a new person, and he had left Adam behind along with his previous life. Even if Shiro forgave him, that didn't mean there was hope to rekindle the fizzled out flame of their love. No doubt his feelings toward him would have lessened in the year they were apart as well. So even if he had feelings for Shiro, "It doesn't matter. I'll be here for him no matter what, but he doesn't need me to be. He's got you, Voltron, and the rest of the team. In the end, I'm not that important to him."

Adam walked away, the sentiment of his heartbreak hanging in the air.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Adam stood in the control room of the castle, looking at all the stars and planets on the holographic star map.

"Mind if I join you?" Coran asked as he walked onto the deck. He must have been taking a break from the Arusian banquet.

"Oh, hey Coran," Adam greeted politely, "Do you happen to know where Earth is?" he asked, gazing at all the stars and planets.

"Let's take a look," Coran said. He walked over to the control panel, bringing Earth to the center of the projection, "Earth is over here. And we're all... the way over..." he dragged on as he scrolled the map across the universe farther and farther away.

"You ever notice how far away the planets are from each other, Coran?" Adam asked, feeling very contemplative after the emotionally heavy conversations he just had.

"Yes. Haven't you been paying attention?" Coran said, taking Adam's question a little too literally.

"Yeah, but I mean they're _really_ far away. Like, say, Earth. It's so far, I can't even see it. The blue oceans, the white clouds, green grass... I can't see any of it."

"You miss Earth. I understand. I miss Altea," Coran said, understanding the somber and nostalgic feeling of a home that was suddenly taken away.

"That's not what I'm trying to say," Adam shook his head, "It just seems the further you are away from something, the harder it is to understand. You overlook all the tiny details and miss the things that have changed. All these planets, with so much space between them, can they ever really understand each other? How could they ever come to understand the changes that each one goes through over time if they're not there to see it? Maybe they're not meant to. Maybe they're all just meant to be….alone."

Coran seemed to get what Adam was trying to say with his less than vague planet metaphor, but he chose not to comment on it. It was obvious right away that Adam was a guarded person, hiding his real emotions behind a veil of aggression, humor, and sarcastic judgements. Most of which had been directed toward Shiro from the moment they arrived.

"Well planets don't have any consciousness to understand or contemplate with" Coran commented, choosing to go with a more passive route and act like he didn't understand Adam's metaphor. He didn't want to say anything that might set him off or discourage him from opening up, "Well, most of them don't anyway."

Adam sighed, "Yeah, I'll take your word on that," he turned around and made his way toward the main hall. He was tired of all these deep conversations, and just wanted to forget them, "I'm going to head back out to the party. Maybe the Arusians have some kind of liquor I can get drunk on."

"Alright, just be sure not to drink the green stuff." Coran warned as he started messing around with the panel controls underneath the main power crystal.

"I'll keep that in mind," Adam replied. As he made his way toward the door Pidge's small floating Galra bot floated into the room past him, "Hey Rover," he said casually. It was kinda funny how Pidge was able to make a literal friend out of an enemy's tech. The thing pretty much never left her side for anything. It was like a robotic lapdog, following her around wherever she went. Adam stopped as the realization hit him, "Wait… where's Pidge?" He turned to see the small bot starting to glow red, charging up to explode. It was headed straight toward the crystal at the center of the room, right next to where Coran was standing.

"Coran look out!" Adam ran forward, jumping on Coran to shield him from the blast as the bot exploded, the brunt of the force hitting Adam in the back and causing him to pass out.

 **VVVVVVVV**

The first thing Adam knew was pain. Pain all along his back and body. He could feel his body pressed against someone's back, like he was being carried, but he was still too delirious to open his eyes and see who it was.

"Hang on Adam. Help is on the way," the voice said.

Keith? It sounded like him. And the person carrying him had a smaller frame, so it couldn't be Hunk or Shiro. And there was no way Pidge could carry him. It could have been Lance, but Adam didn't feel the voice matched.

"Damn," he heard Keith say. Adam felt himself being let down, placed in a slouching position against the wall. Adam slowly began to regain more of his faculties, the rush of pain in his back from being set down making him more alert. He opened his eyes to see a blurry figure walk away from him, toward a large shadow in the distance. If it wasn't for the red paladin armor he wasn't sure if he would be able to recognize Keith.

Adam pushed himself up a bit, reaching up to fix his glasses. Crap. They were gone. He must have lost them when he got hit. Luckily his vision wasn't that bad. It just made things a little blurry, but he could still see well enough. He looked back up, seeing Keith approach someone. It looked like a large Galran soldier. He was massive, and he had a floating claw arm where his left forearm used to be. Wait. It was Sendak! How the hell did he survive?

"Stand aside," Sendak ordered, expecting Keith to bow down at his mere presence.

"No. You're not getting in," Keith declared, drawing his bayard.

"Yes I am," Sendak increased his speed until he was charging at Keith. Sendak brought his large claw arm crashing down to where Keith stood. Keith dived forward under it, jumping up out of the way as Sendak spun around to swipe his claw in a circle on the ground. Keith ran toward him, bringing his blade swinging down, which was easily blocked by Sendak bringing his claw up over his head. He took the opportunity to punch Keith in the gut with his normal arm, sending him reeling back.

Keith staggered before charged again, delivering a series of quick slashes and cuts, each one blocked by Sendak's mechanical arm. Sparks shot off of it as Keith struck it with his sword. He rolled to the side when Sendak tried to get in a kick. For someone of his size, Sendak was incredibly agile. Keith stepped back to look for an opening, but Sendak merely reached out, shooting his claw arm forward to close the distance between them. He grabbed Keith by his arms, dragging him back towards him. He should have known his arm could do that. After all, it wasn't technically connected to his body or anything physical. It just looked like there was a mass of energy keeping the claw connected to the mechanical portion of his arm.

Sendak dropped Keith at his feet, lifting his arm up to smash him into the ground. Keith barely had enough time to roll backwards and dodge the hit. He was about ready to go in for another attack when something ran by him from behind. He turned his head to see Adam running at Sendak, his weapon in hand.

"Adam, stop! What are you doing!?" Keith called out to him, knowing he was in no condition to fight right now after being caught in an explosion. Adam just ignored him, both hands tight on his halberd.

Adam spun on his heels as he reached Sendak, adding force to his attack as he swung the bladed end at him. However, this was quickly caught by Sendak's claw, stopping him in his tracks. Sendak's claw tightened around his weapon, pulling it back and throwing Adam across the room along with it. He then turned his attention back to Keith, apparently not interested in Adam's efforts.

As Keith braced himself for another onslaught he heard Adam roar as he came charging up behind Sendak once again. Sendak turned back to him, amused by his stubbornness.

"You're hurt, get back!" Keith cried out. There was no way Adam would have the focus to put up a good fight after just coming out of unconsciousness. Why was he doing this?

Adam thrusted his weapon forward, going for a stabbing motion this time, which Sendak deflected by smacking the front end away from him. Adam used the momentum to bring the back end of the staff up and smack him in the face.

"I have to beat him!" Adam yelled in response to Keith's plea. He spun back around, thrusting the spear forward once more towards Sendak's chest, hoping to get in a killing strike while he was momentarily distracted by that first hit. Sendak was too fast though, slamming Adam's weapon down toward the ground with his claw. Adam still pushed it forward between Sendak's feet, turning it in his hands and pulling back to snag one of Sendak's legs with the hook end of his halberd. It managed to trip him up slightly, causing him to stumble backwards. Adam then stabbed the tip of his halberd into the ground, launching himself forward on it to deliver a powerful kick to his enemy's chest.

Keith stood there, watching in awe as Adam put up a valiant fight. Even after being severely weakened, his fighting technique was well practiced and unyielding. Keith braced himself, charging back into the fight. He was allowing himself to be distracted. He couldn't just let Adam face this guy alone, especially not in the state he was in.

Adam swiped Sendak's claw away with the butt of his staff, spinning around to bring the axe head crashing straight down towards Sendak's neck, hoping to land a killing blow now that his mechanical arm wouldn't be able to block it in time. Adam brought it down with as much force as he could, feeling his arms shake as Sendak reached up and grabbed it with his normal hand, stopping his attack short. Adam felt a wave of surprise and futility come over him. Sendak had literally been fighting him one-handed until right now. He was so focused on that giant mechanical arm, Adam didn't even think to consider he wasn't fighting at his full potential.

He lifted Adam up off the ground by his halberd, hitting him in the side with his claw, and sending him flying right into Keith as they fell to the floor. Lying in a heap on the ground, Adam was beginning to realize just how screwed they were. They needed a new plan if they were going to survive this. As they struggled to get up, Adam saw a bright glow coming from the corner of his eye. He looked over and saw a beam of energy being charged up in the center of Sendak's claw right before it shot out towards them. Adam grabbed Keith and pushed him back down to the ground and out of the way. As Keith hit the floor, he saw a blast of energy hit Adam square in the chest, sending him flying back away from Keith as he cried out in pain. The blast left a burn on his armor, but it didn't penetrate it. Adam groaned, the force of the hit, knocking the wind out of him.

"Adam!" Keith yelled out in concern, rushing over and trying to support him. Adam tried to stand up, grabbing his weapon that had fallen to the ground near him. As he tried to lift his body up he fell back down, Keith catching him and cradling Adam in his arms. He gritted his teeth, trying to sit back up once again, but Keith held him down, "Adam, why? Why won't you stop? You're in pain"

Adam looked up at Keith, his face twisted up in agony. But it wasn't just physical pain. It was grief and anguish that was reflected in his eyes, "My brother…" Adam gasped out. Keith was stricken by those words. He had never heard Adam say anything about a brother before. He was sure Shiro never mentioned it either. He held Adam's head in his lap, his voice breaking as he continued on, "My brother knew so much more pain…than I ever will. And still I….. I couldn't do anything for him. I can't let Shiro lose his brother too…." Adam reached up and grabbed the hand that Keith had pressed against Adam's chest, his breathing heavy and full of regret, "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry."

Keith was frozen. Adam had never acted like this before. In a way, it scared him. Before Keith could respond, Sendak's shadow loomed over them. He looked up to see the Galran towering over them, "Such a shame. You put up a valiant fight, almost like a Galra," he said to Adam, "But to see you on the ground blubbering like a fool, you truly are as pitiful as the rest."

Keith set Adam down, grabbing his bayard and charging up ferociously, "Aggghhh!" Keith screamed in rage. Seeing Adam in that state broke something in Keith. Something he couldn't quite grasp. And to see this monster mocking Adam at his weakest moment was something he just couldn't take.

He thrusted his sword forward, which Sendak sidestepped with ease. Keith then used his momentum to roll forward out of reach. He spun on his heels, swinging at Sendak's head. His strike blocked by Sendak's claw once again. He kicked Keith in the chest, sending him tumbling back.

Adam pushed himself up to sit on his arm, "Keith no!" He called out. If Keith kept this up, he was going to die. This wasn't supposed to happen. Adam was supposed to save Keith, not the other way around. And now he was going to fail to protect someone again. Was this his fate? To always fail? To watch the people around him die, unable to do anything about it?

"Pathetic human!" he heard Sendak roar out as he slammed Keith to the ground. Keith rolled to the side as Sendak smashed his claws into the floor, narrowly missing his head. Keith swiped at his feet, but Sendak merely took a step back to dodge it, kicking Keith and sending him rolling away. It was obvious Keith was exhausted. Every strike he made was futile, and Sendak's stupid claw arm gave him the tactical advantage from any distance. If Adam hadn't been weakened by that blast earlier, maybe they might've been able to take him down together.

Sendak walked over to Keith, his body slumped on the ground as he reached out for his bayard. Sendak stepped on Keith's hand, making him scream out in pain and kicking his weapon away from him. Keith looked up to see Sendak drawing his claw arm back, ready to deliver the killing blow. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the inevitable.

As he waited for the pain that would come with the impact, he heard the clang of metal against metal, causing him to open his eyes and see what had prevented Sendak from killing him. He looked up he and saw Adam on his feet, his halberd blocking Sendak's attack as the blade was stabbed into the ground for leverage. Blood was running down his face from a head wound he must have got when he hit the floor, his teeth gritted in pain as he exerted himself.

"Adam!" Keith called out in surprise. Keith may have been doing bad, but Adam was far worse off. The fact that he was even standing right now was nothing short of extraordinary. Sendak kicked Keith in the face, sending him tumbling away and knocking him out in the process. Now his focus was entirely on Adam.

"You're quite stubborn for a weakling," he sneered.

Adam pulled his halberd free from the ground, reverting it back to its collapsed state in his hand.

"I'll show you weak!" Adam rolled forward underneath him, getting behind him to make him turn away from Keith's crumpled body. He couldn't strike at him. None of his attacks were effective before, and they certainly wouldn't be now. But he had to get him away from Keith. There was no way he was going to let anyone else get hurt. Sendak swung at him with his normal hand, and Adam swerved out of the way. Then he slashed at him with his claw, which is just what Adam needed. He jumped up, grabbing onto the oversized mechanical arm and letting it carry him. Sendak's swung his arm the other way, trying to throw Adam off. At the apex of his swing, Adam let go, letting the centrifugal force launch him backwards away from both him and Keith, landing on his hands and feet as he slid backward across the floor.

Getting frustrated, Sendak charged after Adam, creating more distance between him and Keith. Perfect. Adam smiled, gripping his weapon tight. Adam jumped up as Sendak approached him, launching a punch straight at him, his bayard in hand. Sendak sidestepped Adam's attack, his bayard breaking as it made contact with the ground. Once Adam landed, he collapsed to the floor and rolled away as far as he could, his strength gone after that last strike.

Sendak looked at Adam lying helplessly on the ground, seeming to lose interest in him, "You can't even hit me. Have your injuries left in such a feeble state already?

Adam laughed, pushing himself up to look Sendak in the face, "I wasn't trying to hit you," he sneered.

Quickly understanding what he meant, Sendak looked down at his feet where the broken bayard had been left. It was glowing a bright orange color, creating a sphere of energy that was growing larger every second. "What?!" Sendak yelled out in surprise. But before he could move, the bayard exploded, creating a giant orange sphere that engulfed him completely, and pushing Adam further away with its force.

Adam looked up to see Sendak frozen within the orange sphere. It created a stasis field. He scoffed, "Damn, I was hoping it would blow up. Alright, plan B," Adam forced himself to stand, pushing through the pain and staggering over to Keith. He grabbed him by the arm, slinging it over his shoulder and picking him up to stand with him, "Come on you moody asshole, get up."

Keith stirred, starting to come to as he felt someone lifting him up off the ground, "Adam?"

"Come on. We have to get out of here," Adam said, guiding them toward the exit out of the castle, "I don't know how long that stasis field is going to last."

"Shiro and the others went to the village," Keith told him. Adam nodded, a new goal set in his mind. It was a little far, especially given their current states, but they just might manage to get there before Sendak gets free. Slowly they both made their way across the bridge, each of them supporting one another as they walked. Every step sent waves of pain shooting through their bodies as they struggled to get away. Once they came near the edge of the bridge, they could see the others making their way back from the village. Shiro was at the head of the pack, with Allura and Lance close behind him.

"Adam! Keith!" Shiro called out to them as he ran.

"Shiro!" Keith called back. Thank god. Having Shiro and the others meet them halfway would save a lot of time and energy, and possibly even their lives.

"Taka…" Adam started, but a loud whir made him stop. He looked back over his shoulder, seeing that Sendak had disappeared and the castle was powering back up. Shit! He was hoping that damn stasis would last a lot longer than just a few minutes. And now their enemy had access to the castle.

"Hurry! The particle barrier is closing!" Adam heard Allura yell. He looked up to see the orange dome shape of the barrier forming overhead, coming down to block the bridge in front of them and seal them inside. Shiro and the others were still too far away, there was no way they were going to get in before the barrier sealed. At this rate they were going to be separated from the others permanently, leaving him and Keith at Sendak's mercy.

"Come on! We can make it!" Keith urged, pulling Adam forward with him. The boundary line of the bridge they needed to cross was just a few feet ahead of them, but both of them together were too slow. There was no way they were both going to make it togehter. Adam braced himself, grabbing Keith by the arm and torso, "What are you….!?" Keith started as Adam used the last of his strength to lift Keith up and throw him forward, allowing him to roll under the barrier just before it hit the ground and sealed Adam in. Adam collapsed to his knees in front it with nowhere else to go, and no energy to move.

"No!" Shiro yelled, coming up to the barrier.

Lance and Allura came up to Keith, lifting him up to check on him, "Keith! Are you alright?" Lance asked.

Shiro powered up his metal arm and punched at the barrier, sparks of purple and orange energy flying out with each strike. But it was useless. The barrier could take several blasts from a giant Galra Cruiser without breaking. Shiro wasn't going to be able to punch a hole in it, no matter how hard he tried. He dropped to his knees in front of Adam's, "Damn it! Adam, just hang on. We'll get you out!" he called out to him.

"Takashi?" Adam asked. He seemed to be dazed after using the last of his strength. And the pain throughout his whole body wasn't helping him focus either. As he looked up and found Shiro's panicked expression face, he smiled up at him, proud of what he had accomplished by getting Keith out, "Takashi look. I saved your brot…" but his sentence was cut short as he felt the cold pierce of Sendak's claw stab him from behind and come out the other side. He had launched his arm all the way from across the bridge, completely catching all of them off guard. Adam's eyes went wide with shock and pain, the taste of metal on his tongue as blood sputtered out of his mouth. Unable to fully process what was happening, he fell back to the ground as the claw pulled back leaving a large open wound in his chest.

"ADAM!" He heard Shiro scream. It was a cry of pain and agony. A horrible sound he wished he would never hear. And yet, it was the last thing he recognized before everything went black.


	8. The Importance of You

**Chapter 7: The Importance of You**

Adam wasn't sure where he was, or when he became aware of his body again. He didn't seem to be anywhere. Adam felt like he was sinking, falling down an endless abyss. His body felt light, like he was surrounded by water, slowly drifting to the bottom of the ocean floor. Only there was no floor. Just a slow and continuous decline. Was this what being dead was like? An eternal fugue state of consciousness? Never being able to feel or experience anything ever again, but also having to be aware of it every second? Maybe it was fitting. Adam never really felt like he accomplished much of anything in his life. Nor did he amount to too much to the people around him either. Maybe an eternal purgatory was the end that best suited him. Poetic was what came to his mind.

Adam couldn't tell how long he had been falling. Hours? Days? Weeks? It was impossible to tell. Time no longer held any concept. It was endless. But after what felt like an eternity, Adam thought he felt drops of water fall on his face, almost like rain. Was someone crying over his dead body? That didn't seem right. Who would bother to cry over him? Shiro might be sad, but their connection ended a long time ago for him to be too broken up over his death. And he wasn't nearly close enough to the others to make them cry. It was for the best probably. No one would miss him. He closed his eyes, ready to embrace oblivion.

"Adam."

Adam opened his eyes again, the faint sound of a voice bringing him back to focus.

"Adam."

There it was again. It was a man's voice. But it was so faint, it was hard to tell exactly who's it was or where it was coming from. Suddenly, Adam felt his back come into contact with a solid surface. He sat up, finding himself surrounded by a black void. There was no sky, no walls, and strangely enough, no floor. Yet somehow, he was sitting on something that kept him from falling even further down into the dark depths.

Adam stood on his feet, his body feeling empty and weightless, like he had been robbed of all his senses. He took a hesitant step forward, wondering if one wrong move would send him tumbling down once again. His foot was greeted with a solid surface, giving him the confidence to start walking. What did it matter anyway? Walking around in an infinite darkness versus falling down it wasn't much of a difference. Either way, Adam would be alone.

How long would it be before he would start to lose his mind in this eternal nothingness? All he had left was his own consciousness, the worst torture he could ever be left with. Maybe it wasn't purgatory. Maybe it was just hell. Being left alone in nothingness, having no one, and being forced to lament over his regrets for as long as he stayed sane. It shouldn't surprise him. Not really. This place was just a reflection of what he always knew to be true when he was alive. He was alone, with no one to care about him anymore. And the only thing he had left were his own regrets. In that aspect, death wasn't much different from life.

"I guess I was living my damnation before I even died," Adam mulled aloud to himself. He was a little surprised that he still had a voice to speak with. But what good was a voice that no one could hear?

The only thing that kept Adam walking was the faintest sliver of hope that he might run into something besides darkness. No. Darkness wasn't quite right. Sure everything around him was a black nothingness, but he could still see his own body. He was wearing his purple paladin armor, which no longer looked damaged in any way. If anything, his body seemed to have a glow, like a lonely star shining in the cold depths of space. Kinda ironic, really. Still, there was nothing better to do than to keep walking in this void.

Without warning, a bright light shone behind him. He whirled around, the faint sound of voices emanating from the celestial glow. Was this the passage to the other side? It looked like heaven, all things considered, but could he trust that to be true?

"Adam where are we going?" Shiro laughed.

The sound of Shiro's voice struck Adam like a chord, shocking him out of his fugue state. He slowly approached the light, a faint recognition guiding his actions. He had heard those words from Shiro before, ringing in his mind like a distant echo. It was as if Shiro's voice was pulling him, drawing him to the past of their happier days.

As Adam faced the bright light, it shone even more, nearly blinding him with its brilliance. Adam closed his eyes as he was engulfed in it, waiting for it to pass. As the light started to fade, he hesitantly opened his eyes. To his surprise, Adam found himself surrounded by the halls of the Garrison instead of the pitch black darkness from before. He looked around, recognizing the hall and room number that he was standing in front of. He reached out for the door knob, his hand phasing right through it.

 _Right, should have figured_ , he thought to himself. Did this mean he was a ghost? If so, why wouldn't his ghost be on the castle where his body died? Not that it was much of a difference, dead was dead, but he'd at least have liked the opportunity to haunt Shiro or something. Maybe even pull a Patrick Swayze and be able to talk to somebody. On the positive side, this was something different from walking around in the dark. The sound of laughter pulled his attention down the hall, the sight before him causing him to freeze.

"Come on Takashi. Just trust me," Adam laughed, pulling Shiro along to stand in front of their bedroom door.

Adam was taken aback. It was him. Or rather, it used to be him. He was staring right at his younger self, pulling a younger version of Shiro along with him. Based on their attire, this was back when they had just started out as pilots a couple years back. Adam more or less looked the same, but his stature was slightly smaller than it was now, and his features were a little softer and less defined. Shiro's appearance was drastically different from what it was now. He had no metal arm, his hair was completely solid black, and his body was much slimmer despite his musculature. Although, he still had that stupid but cute hair floof on his head. That, along with his goofy grin and that glimmer in his eyes, made him instantly recognizable.

"Adam this is our room," Shiro spoke with some skepticism, coming to a stop in front of their door.

"Yes. And I have a surprise for you in our room," his younger self replied to him.

Shiro replied with as slightly disapproving tone, "Adam, if you made me skip class just so we could sneak off for a nooner…"

"No!" Adam yelled, just a tiny bit offended, but then quickly switching to a resigned voice, "Although we shouldn't rule it out."

Shiro laughed as Adam pulled out his keys to open the door, "You're terrible."

"Like you're any better. Besides, Phil is covering for us."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll love that," Shiro spoke sarcastically. It wasn't a secret that Phil wasn't exactly fond of him. But that was a whole other issue.

"Just shut up and get in here," Adam sighed, dragging his then boyfriend through the doorway and into their bedroom.

Adam followed the younger versions of himself and Shiro into their room, not seeing anything else he could possibly do in this situation. He saw his younger self lead Shiro over to the bed, his face giddy with excitement. Adam had almost forgotten that he could even feel like that. An emotion that came so easy to himself as a teenager, was now buried beneath bitterness and guilt.

"So now what?" Shiro asked, wondering what Adam was getting so worked up about.

"Lay on the bed and close your eyes," Adam stated happily.

"Adam…" Shiro groaned out in disappointment. It was as if he had just crossed his arms with his voice.

"No, no, no! I'm serious!" Adam begged, insistent that he wasn't up to anything naughty or nefarious. He put on his most sincere expression and looked deep in his eyes, "Please?"

Shiro sighed, unable to deny the man he loved such a simple request, especially when he was pleading so cutely, "Alright."

He sat down on his side of the bed and laid back, closing his eyes while he waited for his boyfriend to do whatever he was planning to do. And if Adam was getting ready to jump him, then he'd just throw him off onto the floor…. after a minute or two.

Adam watched as his younger self ran over to the dresser, pulling open the bottom drawer and shuffling some clothes out of the way. Adam watched, mesmerized by this strange out of body experience. He remembered this now. It was Shiro's birthday, and he had wanted to do something special for him. Adam would say this was probably when he was at his happiest. And now seeing it like this, watching his memory play out from an outside perspective, it was eerie. Here he was, dead and miserable, watching himself at the most joyful part of his life. It was cruel. Maybe this wasn't any better than the darkness after all.

The younger Adam grabbed a large cube off the dresser and ran over to place it on the bedside table. He pressed down on it, the top half of the cube opening up to reveal a high-quality holographic projector pointed at the ceiling. Adam got into bed next to Shiro and grabbed his hand.

"Okay. Open your eyes."

Shiro opened them, seeing a 3D projection of space plastered across their entire ceiling, "Wow…" he breathed out, stunned and amazed. It was an incredible sight. Nebulas and stars were all shining brightly right before their eyes. It was as if they really were floating out in the middle of space, able to see all the colors and vibrancy that the galaxies had to offer. A sight so wonderous that no telescope on Earth could ever hope to emulate.

"Adam, this is beautiful," Shiro smiled, never taking his eyes off the projection.

Adam turned on his side to look at him, "I know how much going to space means to you, and how hard it was for you to hear that you couldn't pilot on the Kalos mission. So, I thought I'd bring the stars to you."

Shiro turned his face toward Adam, his eyes sparkling with wonder, "You made this?"

"I had a little help with it, but I did most of it myself. I wanted to do something special for you. It's not accurate in the least, but I tried my best," Adam admitted.

"It's amazing. You're amazing," Shiro's expression changed from one of wonder to a look of soft adoration, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Adam smiled, his heart swelling with happiness, "You'll never find out. Happy Birthday Takashi."

Shiro reached up and cupped Adam's face, moving in for a soft kiss, "Love you."

As Adam stood by and watched his memory play out, reliving the emotions that he felt that day, he found himself crying. Or he thought he was. Given his incorporeal state, it was hard to say if he was capable of anything like that since he couldn't even feel anything physical. But the ache that weighed on his heart was very real. And just as quickly as it had pulled him in, a bright light shone and engulfed his body once again.

 **VVVVVVVV**

As the light faded, Adam opened his eyes to once again find he was back in the black void. He looked around for any lingering sign of what he had just seen. He didn't know what to expect honestly, but the sudden shift back into the darkness was quite jarring. What was the point of that whole experience? To taunt and torment him? To remind him of what he left behind, or the things he had lost? It was a sweet and beautiful memory to relive, but it only brought him pain now that he was dead.

If only he could go back in time to that day. He would have completely changed the direction his life took. He would have appreciated his friends more, made things right with Keith, and most importantly, he would have done everything possible to live a long and simple life with Shiro. But that was no longer possible. His final regret.

With nothing else to do, Adam started walking again. It was a pointless endeavor, but better than standing around doing absolutely nothing. After only moment, Adam noticed that his footsteps were making a sloshing sound. He stopped, looking down to see ripples of water moving out from under his feet, like he had just stepped in a puddle. The ripples moved out across the floor as far as he could see, as if the entire floor had been covered in a thin layer of water.

But there never was a floor to begin with. He had just stopped falling and hit something solid and invisible. Besides his own body, nothing was clearly discernable in this dark abyss. Even now, he couldn't see past the ripples of water that were emanating from under his feet. For all he knew, he was walking across a mass of black water. It was a small change, but very noticeable. Was it significant of something?

He kneeled down, pressing his hand against the watery surface. He didn't feel anything, except maybe a slight coolness on his palm. Lifting his hand up, he found that it was completely dry. What the hell was going on here? This water had no depth, or any discernable clarity. He couldn't even see his own reflection in it. Why was it here?

"Adam."

Adam stood up at the sound of his name. There it was again. A voice calling him from the distance.

"Adam."

He ran towards it, desperate to reach the source of the voice. It was still too faint to hear who was calling out for him, but maybe he could find out if he got close enough. It was worth pursuing. It gave him a purpose.

Adam ran and ran, the voice calling out periodically, but he never seemed to get any closer. As he ran, he saw another glimmer of light in the darkness ahead. Just as soon as he saw it, the light rushed toward him, washing over his body like a wave. Adam stopped running, covering his eyes at the sudden flash.

 **VVVVVVVV**

The sound of shuffling feet and voices let Adam know that it was safe to open his eyes. He looked around, finding that he was back in the Garrison. This time though, he was in the hangar bay where the pilots spent a lot of their time. Some cadets and officers were walking around, filling the hangar with idle chatter.

Adam looked around, once again finding a younger version of himself. He was standing next to one of the jets, typing something on his tablet. He was completely lost in thought, focused on his work that he didn't notice the taller man approaching him.

"Adam!" A tall redhead jumped on Adam, smothering him with his body as he hugged him tightly from the side.

"Jeez!" his younger self exclaimed, trying to keep his balance before registering his friend at his side, "Hey Jason."

Jason let go and held Adam out at arm's length, beaming brightly, "Hey! You wanna come out with me and Phil tonight!?"

Adam remembered this. It was right before they all got certified to be officers. Him, Jason, and Phil were all pilots in training together, and they all developed a quick rapport. Jason was easy to become friends with because of how honest and genuinely kind he was. Although, it took some time before Adam was able to warm up to him, thinking that his nice guy persona was just an act. But once he realized that he was just naturally soft-hearted, it was hard not to become friends with him. Although, some of that reluctance to make friends had been on Adam's part as well. He wasn't very trusting when he first joined, nor did he plan on making any friends. But, he was ultimately grateful that he didn't stick to that philosophy, otherwise he wouldn't have made the good friends he had now.

"What's the occasion?" Adam asked, curious as to what was making Jason so enthusiastic this time.

"None! But since we finally have an evening off, I thought all three of us could go out and have a drink or something."

Well that made sense. Jason always had a habit of getting ahead of himself. He would always be so excited to spend time with his friends, but he wasn't the best at making plans. It was hard to think Jason had the focus to be an officer, but his grades were actually top of the class and he was an incredibly talented pilot. Despite that, he kinda fumbled social interactions and cues sometimes.

"Wait, does Phil know about this plan?"

"Not yet!" Jason exclaimed, not realizing how ironic his own exuberance was over plans that weren't even confirmed.

"Does Phil know about what?" the voice of another young man interrupted them.

Phil approached the duo, his tablet in hand. He adjusted his glasses, eyeing them skeptically after hearing his name. If there was a polar opposite to Jason, it would probably be Phil. He was shorter than both Jason and Adam, and he had pitch black hair and a neatly pressed uniform. He was a generally serious person and usually kept himself composed, but he was no less talented or dedicated as a friend. However, he would often let his guard down around his friends.

"Hey Phil!" Jason greeted.

"Hey Jay. Now what plan?"

"Oh, you know, Jason came up with an idea to have us all go out to get a drink since we have the night off," Adam explained.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" Jason whined, hugging Adam's arm.

"Sure. I'm in," Phil smirked, amused by the display in front of him.

Adam pried Jason off his arm and shifted awkwardly, "Ahhh. Look guys. I'd love to, but…."

"You're busy," Phil finished for him, his voice despondent. In turn, Jason's body sulked, his excitement and energy dropping.

"Yeah," he nodded, feeling a little guilty over disappointing his friends.

"Are you going out with Shirogane?" Phil asked bitterly.

He had never been very fond of Shiro, but he didn't outright hate him either. Adam used to wonder why that was, never understanding where that disdain came from. But Adam had just been lying to himself back then, for the sake of preserving their friendship. The truth was, Phil was in love with Adam. He had been for a long time, and as a result, he developed a natural resentment and jealousy toward Shiro. Despite this, Phil was always respectful of their relationship. He never tried to sabotage or undermine their bond. He never even tried to move in on Adam or make things difficult for them. A weaker man would have tried something in the amount of time him and Phil knew each other. That's how much he loved and respected Adam.

Watching himself now, Adam couldn't believe he was ever ignorant of Phil's feelings. It was so apparent. But he also knew he could never return those feelings, so he resigned himself to that passive ignorance. Was that cruel? Or would it have been crueler to be upfront with him and let him know that he had no romantic feelings for him? Either way, Adam had still ended up hurting him.

The younger Adam shook his head, "No. He's busy with his own work, and I have papers to grade for tomorrow. But you two should go out and have fun."

"But it won't be the same without you!" Jason pouted.

"He's right. I'll help you with your paperwork," Phil offered.

"Me too!" Jason cheered.

"Guys, don't be silly. You should go out and have fun instead of helping me with classwork," he insisted.

"It's not about that," Jason said matter-of-factly, making Adam look at him with confusion, "You're our friend, and we want to spend time with you whenever we can. We could hang out without you, sure, but we want you there with us. We wouldn't have it any other way."

Watching his friend's confession to his younger self, Adam felt a pang in his heart. His friends held such devotion and admiration towards him. They didn't think he was worthless or a nobody. They wanted him around because they thought their lives were better with him in it. He was such an idiot….

Phil nudged Jason's side, "How do you always manage to make such sappy words sound so natural?" he smirked up at the redhead.

"Huh? I don't know. I just really meant what I said!" Jason smiled.

"Guys, we rarely get time to ourselves to just relax," Adam tried to protest.

"Yeah, but I agree with Jason. It's better when we're all together, no matter what we're doing," Phil said simply.

"Aww, Phil! That was so sweet!" Jason beamed.

Phil grumbled, looking away in embarrassment and adjusting his glasses, "Ugh, maybe you're rubbing off on me…"

Adam laughed, appreciating the lengths his friends were willing to go for him, "Alright. If you guys insist."

Jason bounced on his heels like a giant kid, "Of course! We're like the three muskrats!"

"Musketeers, Jason," Phil corrected.

"Right!"

Adam shook his head, a big smile plastered on his face, "You guys are the weirdest, best friends I've ever had."

"I feel a group hug coming on!" Jason spoke up excitedly, making the other two step back in hesitation.

"No, wait, Jason we..UGHHH!" Adam was cut off as Jason lunged forward and wrapped up both him and Phil in his arms, squeezing them tight. That's what they get for making friends with a soft-hearted giant.

"Uhhh, this is why all my clothes smell like Jason," Phil groaned.

"I love you guys so much!" he cried.

"We love you too…" Phil and Adam strained out as the life was squeezed out of them.

Standing there, watching how much his friends cared about him, Adam was plagued with guilt. He didn't deserve the love they gave him. He hadn't been the best friend to them. He didn't acknowledge Phil's feelings for him, and he took their friendship for granted. He didn't even tell them where he was going when he took off to find Shiro. He had told himself that it was for their benefit, so they wouldn't have to give up the life they built or put themselves in danger. But now looking back, he realized it was selfish never giving them a choice. He had made their decision for them, deciding that their friendship was worth less than their careers, when that wasn't the case at all. Seeing this now, he remembered how much he truly meant to them, and now they had no idea where he was. He had died, and they would never know about it. Just another thing he wished he could go back and fix.

Without warning, Adam was engulfed in another beam of white light. He braced himself, still unsure of what could happen in this strange purgatory of memories and regrets.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Expecting to see the blackness of the empty void once more, Adam was surprised to find himself in an empty apartment. Another memory? What was the point of these things? He looked around, not quite sure where he was. He was standing in a living room, decorated with cheap, shabby furniture and an old stained couch. The place seemed familiar, but it was nowhere he had been recently.

The sound of footsteps made him turn around. Coming down the hallway was a 12 year old version of Adam. His glasses were squared, and his hair was shorter with an undercut. His younger self climbed up on the couch, crossing his arms and pouting. Adam watched curiously, wondering what he was doing and why he was experiencing such an old memory.

"Adam, I'm gonna be leaving soon," an older man's voice echoed from down the hall.

Adam's eyes went wide, his whole body tensing up with shock. He slowly turned back around toward the hall, his breathing heavy with anticipation at what he was about to see. Coming out of the bedroom, was a tall handsome man dressed in a Garrison uniform. He had soft brown hair and bright green eyes. He was the spitting image of Adam, except his features were sharper and more mature, and he didn't need to wear glasses like Adam did. The second he came into view, Adam felt like he had been pulled out of the torment of hell and had crossed over into the forgiving arms of heaven. Because only in heaven could he ever see the sight of his older brother again.

"Aiden," Adam breathed out in a shaky voice.

"Okay," his younger self replied flatly.

Noticing his little brother's flat response, Aiden walked right by Adam over to the couch. As he passed, Adam reached out to him, his hand phasing right through his arm. Figures. But even if he couldn't hold him or talk to him, it was a blessing just to be able to see him again.

Aiden kneeled down in front of the young Adam, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he huffed in reply.

Aiden reached forward and ruffled his little brother's hair, "Come on Adam. You know you can't lie to me."

Adam swatted his hands away and then crossed his arms again, "I'm fine. Just go to your stupid training."

"Whoa. Where did that come from?" Aiden asked, taken aback by his outburst.

Adam sat up straight, his irritation and anger building, "Because that's all you care about! You're always off training, and I never get to see you anymore!" Seeing the look of shock on his brother's face, Adam realized he had pushed it too far. He lowered his head, speaking softly, "Ever since you started at the Garrison, we barely spend any time together…."

"Adam, I'm so sorry that you're feeling neglected. But the work I do is important. And being at the Garrison is what allows us to live here."

"I just hate not being able to talk to you. It's always been you and me, and now, it just feels like… it doesn't matter," Adam gave up, resignation in his voice.

Aiden looked at him with a warm sympathy, "Wait here," he stood up and pulled out his phone, dialing a number and holding it up to his ear, "Hey, Connelly. I need to skip out on training today. Can you cover for me?"

"What are you?..." young Adam sat up in surprise, listening intently to his brother's phone call.

Aiden kept talking, not paying him any mind, "Yeah, I know… Don't worry, I'll make it up… Thanks Connelly. I owe you one," Aiden hung up the phone and turned to Adam, a big goofy smile on his face, "Well, looks like I'm free to spend the day with my little brother."

Adam pouted, feeling bad for guilt tripping his brother into staying, "Why did you do that? Won't you get in trouble?"

Aiden just shrugged, sitting down next to him, "Maybe a little. But it's worth it if I get to spend time with my little brother and cheer him up."

"I'm not a child Aiden. You don't have to talk down to me," Adam huffed, trying to hide how happy he was.

Aiden wrapped an arm around him, pulling him into his chest and cooing, "Aww, you're so cute when you can't admit you're happy."

"Shut up!" Adam whined, struggling to break free. But as soon as he did, he paused and lunged forward to hug his brother, "Thank you."

Aiden smiled, "Anything for you little bro."

As Adam stood there watching the memory of him and his brother play out, tears rolled down his face, this time with certainty. Aiden was such a kind and caring man, and an even better older brother. He didn't deserve to suffer the way that he did. In a different life, Aiden would have been a hero on Earth, and him and Adam could still be together. Out of all the memories he wished he could go back to, this was the most important one.

Maybe death wasn't such a bad thing. Maybe in this perpetual afterlife, Adam would be able to be reunited with the only family he ever had. He reached out toward the memory of his brother, hoping that somehow, he would be able to feel his touch this time. But before he could reach him, the white light engulfed him once last time, pulling him away from his heart's deepest desire.

 **VVVVVVVVV**

"Aiden," Adam's hand hung futilely in the air, tears rolling down his face as his brother faded away before his eyes.

"It's a shame you failed him," an ominous and omniscient voice called out to him.

"What? Who said that?" Adam whirled around, looking for the source of the voice, but there was no one there that he could see. He thought he had been alone this whole time, but now someone was talking directly to him.

"The two of you could have lived a happy life if you hadn't let him die," the voice surrounded him, disembodied and haunting. It sounded like it was being whispered right into his ear. It unnerved him.

"That's not true! That's not what happened!" Adam cried defiantly.

"Isn't it? You're constantly blaming yourself for it," the voice was taunting, and vaguely familiar. He felt like he should recognize the voice, but he was too distracted by what it was saying to figure it out. It was digging up his deepest insecurities and throwing them in his face.

"That's just because…. It's the only way I could cope! I hate myself for not being able to help him!" Adam shouted into the unforgiving void, the pressure of the accusations forcing him to be more honest about his motivations.

It was true that Adam did blame himself for what happened to his brother, but realistically, he also knew it wasn't his fault. He knew that some things were out of his control, and terrible things can just happen without warning. But he couldn't accept that. Especially when it came to the only family he had left. He hated the idea of fate or uncontrollable forces in the world that could have any involvement in taking his brother away from him. It was cruel and unfair, and Adam wasn't sure he could live in a world like that. The only way that he could come to terms with his brother's passing was to take on that guilt as his own. To convince himself that he was the cause of losing the person he loved most, even if deep inside, he knew it wasn't true. But after years and years of telling himself that's what happened, it might as well have been true.

"So, you could have done something?" the voice went on, pressing on that sore spot. It's like it knew exactly to get under his skin.

"No! I had no idea what would happen to him! If I did, I would have made him stay!" Adam was starting to feel overwhelmed and tormented. His worldview cracking at the seams. He knew what the voice was saying wasn't true, but he had been telling himself the same things for so long, he wasn't sure what to think.

"But you didn't. And now he's gone. And you did nothing," the voice sounded spiteful now, like it hated Adam with every fiber of its incorporeal existence.

He panted heavily, placing his hands on his head to cover his ears, feeling like he was on the verge of a panic attack. He shut his eyes tight as he yelled, "Shut up! Shut up! Who are you!?"

"Over here."

Adam froze in place. The voice no longer sounded omniscient. In fact, it had a presence to it now, sounding resolute and determined to let Adam see what its true face was. He straightened up, slowly turning his body around to where he had heard the voice coming from.

Adam started breathing heavier and heavier, the face of his tormentor coming into view, "You…. You're…"

"You?" the voice spoke. It was true. Right there before Adam's eyes was a complete duplicate of himself, like staring into a mirror image, "That's right. After all, how could I resist wearing such a pretty face?"

The copy ran its hand over the side of his face before grasping its glasses and adjusting them. Every detail of the copy was a perfect imitation. The only difference was that while Adam was wearing his paladin armor, the copy was wearing Adam's normal clothes, jacket and all.

"You're not real. None of this is real," Adam took a step back. He needed to remember where he was. He was dead. He couldn't feel anything physical, and there was no sign of life anywhere. This had to be another illusion, just like his memories. Nothing here was significant.

"Oh that'd be so nice if it was true, wouldn't it?" the copy smirked, quickly stepping toward Adam and placing a hand against his cheek.

Adam gasped, feeling the touch of his copy's palm as it grazed his face. He couldn't even feel the water from before, but his copy's touch wasn't even dulled in the slightest. Finally starting to feel a true sense of terror and dread, he looked deeply into his own eyes and asked, "Is…. Is this hell?"

His reflection smirked, dropping his hand from his face, "That's one way of looking at it. But that begs the question…." The copy circled around Adam, who was too scared and unsure to even think about moving. It leaned into Adam's ear, and whispered, "Why are you the only one here?"

What was that supposed to mean? Adam turned around to face himself, "Then what are you doing here if I'm…" his sentence was cut short as he turned to find that he was all alone once again. He looked around, spinning on his heels, but he couldn't find himself anywhere. The copy was just gone. Adam dropped to his knees, feeling like he was going mad, "What is this? Is this my punishment?"

It had to be, right? What was the point of any of this? The memories of his loved ones only served to bring him pain, reminding him of what he had left behind. As much as he wanted to, he wouldn't ever be able to go back to them now. And his own reflection, all it did was taunt him and remind him of all the ways he hated himself. But why should any of it matter!? He was already dead! Wasn't that enough!?

"Adam," the same voice from before was echoing through the darkness once again. This time it was slightly more clear, but Adam didn't want to hear it. He'd had enough.

"Please just stop," Adam panted. He couldn't take this anymore. The memories, the emptiness, his reflection, all of them were trying to break hm down. And it was working.

"Adam, stay with me," it echoed.

Wait, was that…? "Takashi?"

"Adam," the voice echoed again, louder than ever before. It was definitely Shiro. There was no mistaking his soft but masculine tone.

His voice was coming from somewhere up ahead. Adam stood, the sound of Shiro's voice the only thing he cared about. It was familiar and kind, even though his voice sounded strained and troubled. Just hearing him say his name brought Adam immense comfort in this dark hellhole.

Broken down and desperate for any kind of reprieve, Adam took off and ran toward Shiro's call, "Takashi!"

He didn't know what hearing his voice meant. He didn't care. All he knew was that he wanted to be near him any way he could. He ran and ran, the sound of Shiro's voice slowly getting louder and becoming more defined. His footsteps splashed and kicked up water with each step, his breathing getting heavier the longer he ran. Huh. That was funny. When did he start panting? Dead people don't have to breath.

As Adam took notice of how his body was starting to feel exhausted, a sharp, excruciating pain shot though his left shoulder, "Aghhhhhhhh! AHHHHHHHH!"

Adam fell to the ground, gripping his side. The pain was pulsating, putting his whole body in a state of shock. What the hell was going on!? He hadn't been able to feel anything the entire time he's been here. Now all of a sudden he can feel pain? What kind of sick afterlife was this? Adam looked over at his left side, seeing a large crack in his armor, blood pouring from it at an alarming rate. _What the hell!?_

"We're losing him!" A feminine voice called from the same direction that Shiro's was coming from. It sounded young, but assertive. Pidge?

"His body is rejecting it!" Another voice replied, one of an older man with a hint of an accent. Coran?

"Damn it. Come on Adam!" Shiro cried out, his voice instantly recognizable no matter what state Adam was in.

"Agghhh! Ahhhaaaa!" he groaned and screamed, thrashing around on the ground. This was the worst and most painful sensation he had ever felt. Being killed didn't even hurt this much. What was going on? The words they were saying, it sounded like they were doing something to his body. But that couldn't be. He was dead. He shouldn't even feel or hear anything relating to his physical form. And yet….

"Quick, give him the shot!" Someone yelled. Adam was too gripped by pain to register anything other than the words being said.

After a moment, the pain started to subside. He started to feel weightless, like his body was drifting along the shallow surface of water that he was laying on. He weakly reached out with his right hand where Shiro's voice was, "Ahh… Takashi…"

"Quick, get him into the healing pod," Pidge said.

"Come on Adam. You're a fighter. You can do this," Shiro urged him on.

Why did it sound like he was trying to save him? He was already gone. He couldn't go back to Shiro, no matter how much he wanted to. This is where everything was meant to end. _Just stop Takashi. Let me go._

"A fighter, huh? Not exactly the word I'd use," a young man's voice spoke up from behind him.

He looked up over his shoulder, seeing who it was, "K..Keith?"

Keith was dressed in his regular clothes, just like Adam's reflection had been. His face was neutral, and unfeeling as he looked down on Adam. He crouched down to talk to him while he lay flat on the ground.

"Not quite, but close enough," Keith's imitation explained.

So, this was another illusion. Another trick, "So first myself, and now you. Am I going to be taunted by all the people that hate me?" Adam asked.

Keith eyed him curiously, turning his head in confusion, "You really think I hate you?"

What an odd question, "Why shouldn't you? We're not even that close."

He'd failed Keith on multiple occasions. He'd failed to look out for him when Shiro disappeared, he doubted Keith's potential when he first joined the Garrison, and he hated to admit it, but he was bitter at how close him and Shiro were becoming. Adam never did him any favors. He had every right to hate him for that.

"And yet, you've tried to save me twice," Keith said, contradicting his thoughts.

"Because I know how much you mean to Takashi," Adam said. The two of them looked out for each other, in a way that Adam wasn't able to for either. He couldn't let them lose each other, despite his own inferiority complex and feelings of jealousy. Making sure the two of them still had each other was the best thing he could do for them. That's why he saved Keith and gave up his own life.

"That's what you tell yourself," Keith spoke, countering him again.

"It's true," Adam insisted, defying what the copy was trying to suggest.

Keith scoffed, starting to look slightly annoyed now, "God. See? This is the exact reason I call you pathetic. You can't even be honest with yourself. And now you're just lying here when you should be fighting."

"No one needs me," Adam told him, his voice weak and apathetic.

"How can you be so selfish and stupid at the same time? It's not about need. You know better than anyone what it feels like to lose someone. How it feels. How it makes others feel," Keith words put his Adam's heart in a vice grip.

He was right. Losing Aiden. Losing Shiro. It was the worst pain he had ever experienced in life, and it hurt everyone else around him. He closed himself off to others, and he became a worse friend to the people around him. He was so wrecked and devasted. And the other people who knew them were messed up almost as bad as he was. Grief was a harrowing experience.

Keith kneeled forward, face to face with Adam, "Tell the truth. Are you going to give up and let the people who care about you go through that same pain?"

Adam looked up at him, on the verge of tears. This illusion was completely different from his copy. It wasn't trying to break him down or make him feel pathetic. If anything, he was trying to urge Adam onward. The only thing the two imitations had in common, was that they were both telling the truth.

"Why do you care so much?" Adam asked, wondering why Keith was the one to appear before him.

Keith looked down at him, his expression flat and listless, "I don't. One way or the other you can do whatever you want. You can fight for what you believe in, or you can just lay there and die. It's your choice."

"Adam…" Shiro's voice echoed through the air once again. He was calling out to him. He didn't want to let Adam go….

"I don't want to die…" Adam gasped. He couldn't give up again. He couldn't let himself die with more regrets weighing on his heart, "I want my life to mean something. And…. I want to see him."

Keith smirked at him, rising to his feet, "Then stand up."

Adam rolled over onto his stomach, trying to push himself up. When he was resigned and drifting, he felt weightless like a cloud. Now that he was pushing back, his body felt like a ton of bricks. He gritted his teeth, his body hurting the more he pushed himself up. He got on his knees, the pressure breaking his resolve and making him pause.

He panted heavily. Everything was working against him, trying to keep him down. What if he wasn't meant to go back? "But what if I cause them more harm than good? I could save everyone a lot of trouble if I wasn't around."

Keith kneeled down in front of him, placing his hand under Adam's chin and lifting his head up to look at him. Adam gasped softly, realizing it wasn't Keith anymore, but it was Shiro. An imitation, or an illusion, but still a very welcome sight. He looked just like he did now, his expression soft and smiling sympathetically at Adam.

"I know you have doubts, but I've always believed in the best of you," Shiro said, resting one hand on his shoulder and taking Adam's hand with the other, "Your smile, your warmth, even your anger and stubbornness; they are all qualities of yours that I love. You deserve to be loved. And if at anytime that you think that you aren't worth the effort…" Shiro paused, standing up and helping lift Adam to his feet.

Adam struggled to get up, pushing through the pain. Once he was finally on his own two feet, he looked up at Shiro, shocked to see the figure before him had changed once again. Now, he was staring into the loving eyes of his older brother, just as he remembered him years ago.

Aiden smiled, and spoke encouragingly, "Then remember all the days we spent together as a family. Remember how much I loved and cared about you, and the sacrifices I made to give you the best life possible. I believed in you and your talent, because you were always worth the effort to me," Adam quivered, overcome with emotion at being with his brother. More than just a memory this time, he could feel his hands in his look him deep in his eyes, feeling the weight of his every word, "Don't ever give up. Never forget how much others have done for you. Live your life remembering that there are people all around you that love and care about you," Aiden softly let go of Adam's hands, stepping back as a bright light began to shine behind him. As the light started to overtake his body, he smiled one last time at Adam, tears running down his face, "And remember, that I will always be with you."

Adam wanted to cry out to him. To say something, or at least tell him that he loved him one last time. But when he saw that look on his brother's face, he knew he didn't need to. His older brother gave so much to him. And he was right, there were still other people in his life that wanted him around. His memories showed him that much. Maybe they weren't meant to torment him, but to prove that he had a life worth going back to. He couldn't give up. He couldn't let the love others gave him and the sacrifices his brother made be in vain. He couldn't just throw away his life. He needed to live!

"Adam," Shiro's voice called out to him, louder than ever before. It led him into the light, and Adam took off toward it. He ran and ran, his limbs on fire, and his body racked with pain. Was this what it meant to be alive? Even so, it's what he wanted. He dove straight into the light, reclaiming what he had given up on.

"Adam!"

 **VVVVVVVV**

Adam felt strange, the pain that had coursed through his body being replaced with a dull ache and numbness. Was he alive? He felt so strange. The hiss of machinery surrounded him, and he could hear gasping and footsteps.

"Guys, give him space," he heard Shiro say. It sounded like it was coming from just in front of him, but he couldn't see anything.

"Wha…" Adam tried to speak.

"He's waking up!" someone yelled.

Adam felt himself fall forward, dizzy and weak, strong arms embracing him as he stumbled. He slowly opened his eyes, the lights hurting them as they adjusted. His body felt heavy, slumped against whoever was holding him. He looked up to see Shiro's face, his arms wrapped around him supportively.

"I'm still alive?" Adam asked, unsure of whether or not he should believe in the angelic sight before him. He'd gone through too many crazy illusions and experiences to outright believe he was back. Shiro lifted him up and gently sat him down on a nearby chair. A tired soreness racked through his whole body as he was set on the chair.

"Yeah. You're still alive," Shiro answered. He stepped back, letting the others come into view. Allura, Coran, and all the other paladins were there. Even Pidge was there, which meant she had decided to stay after all.

"Sendak's claw pierced your shoulder and you passed out. You lost a lot of blood, but you didn't die," Lance explained.

"You've been recovering in the healing pod for several days now," Allura informed him.

Several days? So all those things he saw, were they an elaborate dream, or was he drifting on the hinges of life and death?

"Unfortunately, your arm was too damaged to fix. The strike to your shoulder severed pretty much everything important. So your arm had to ugh… It had to be…ugh, removed," Hunk told him awkwardly.

Adam held up his left arm to look at it. He was wearing a white spandex suit that covered most of his arm, but he could still see the hand. Where his normal hand had been was now replaced by a robotic prosthetic. It was a dark grey color, with hints of orange lining running across the seams of his fingers. He was so delirious that he didn't even realize that he had a very dull feeling in his left side. He placed his right hand over his left bicep, feeling the firmness of the metal underneath the sleeve.

"We managed to construct you a new arm and integrate it into your healing process," Coran told him, apparently proud of himself. No doubt he was responsible for the new arm.

Adam felt strange. He could feel odd sensations that allowed him to move and control his arm like normal, in fact it didn't even feel foreign. It was almost natural. But his sense of touch felt… off. He could feel the pressure of his human hand on his bicep, but he couldn't exactly _feel_ it in the traditional sense.

"I guess we match now," Shiro smiled, holding up his right hand. Adam looked up at him perplexed. Was this how Shiro felt when he lost his arm? Was this how he felt all the time? It was somewhat of an empty feeling, but also comforting knowing he had someone to share it with.

Pidge popped up next to Shiro, eager to share her contribution, "I analyzed and used Shiro's arm as a base model for yours. There was a lot of complicated Galra stuff going on in his arm, but I'll decode that later. Anyway, I helped design it and Hunk and Coran helped me construct it."

"Well it doesn't have all the capabilities Shiro's arm does, but it has all the best qualities Altean science can offer," Coran said, "We also used the leftover components from your broken bayard to construct it. After all you did break it after I specifically told you not to, and those parts aren't exactly easy to come by. I figured we might as well get some use…"

"At any rate," Allura cut him off, trying to direct the conversation to more positive news, "We're very glad to see you awake now."

"What happened to Sendak?" he asked, remembering the monster that stole his arm and had nearly killed him and Keith.

"He's trapped in a cryogenic containment pod. He won't be getting out anytime soon," Shiro assured him.

Keith came up to stand next to Shiro, "We're all glad you're okay now Adam," he smiled at him. Adam didn't know what to say. Keith rarely showed positive feelings towards him, but he could tell he was genuine. Adam nodded in appreciation.

"Thanks," Adam looked around, finally grasping that he was in the main healing chamber. From where he had been stabbed on the bridge, it was on the complete other side of the castle, "How did I get here?"

"Shiro carried you. All by himself," Lance said smugly, clasping a hand on Shiro's shoulder.

"It was almost sweet looking back on it now. Carrying you as tears fell down his face," Pidge said, her hands clasped together, resting them against her chest as if she was talking about her favorite romance novel.

"It was a dramatic scene that would fit any movie!" Lance proclaimed, grabbing Pidge and holding her up as she pretended to faint.

Shiro scoffed, seeming to be both equally annoyed and embarrassed by their remarks, "Come on guys. I wasn't crying. It was just sweat. It's hard to carry somebody that far without getting worn out a little."

"It would have helped if you hadn't carried him bridal style," Pidge teased, coming back to life and standing next to him.

"I…. I didn't…" Shiro stuttered, his face turning red, unsure of what to say.

Wait. The drops of water he had felt on his face when he was falling, was that Shiro? Were those his tears? It seemed like such a farfetched idea, but he never thought Shiro would literally cry over him. After everything that happened and their recent talks, he thought they weren't that close anymore.

Adam looked up at Shiro, "Takashi. You…. saved me?"

Shiro appeared to be briefly dumbfounded by the question, as if it didn't make sense to him. After a moment he just smiled down at him and said, "Of course I did. Don't you know how important you are to me?"

Adam felt a pull in his chest, water starting to well up in his eyes as he leaned forward into Shiro's chest, lightly punching at his side, "You…son of a bitch," he cried, as Shiro wrapped his arms around him. Those were the exact words he had used on Shiro when they were breaking up. But now, they held a new meaning entirely.

Shiro laughed and addressed the others around the room as he held Adam, "That means 'thank you' by the way."

Adam felt a hand grab his human shoulder, and he looked up to see Keith once again, "It's good to have you back Adam."

Adam let go of Shiro and looked at everyone around him as Shiro backed up. Everyone was here for him. To make sure he was okay. They all saved his life and repaired his body. What his brother had told him was true, there were people in his life that cared about him. They had all worked together and saved his life. And for the first time in over a year, he felt like he had somewhere to belong. He may not have been a paladin, but this is where he was meant to be.

Tears began to flow down his face as he addressed the room, looking down at his feet out of embarrassment, "Thank you… everyone."

"Wow, never thought I'd see Adam cry," Hunk exclaimed.

"Don't worry, he'll deny it and go back to making fun of me within the week," Shiro laughed.

"Quick, somebody get a camera!" Lance shouted.

Adam smiled as the others all scrambled around him, making quips and starting to shove one another around. They were crazy, and frustrating; but he felt more at home with them in the few days he had known them, than he ever had at the Garrison. Eventually he would have to go back and make amends with the friends he left behind on Earth, but for now, he would start with the people here. Adam felt genuinely happy. And as he looked up into Shiro's bright smiling face, he decided that he was right, he was definitely going to go back to making fun of him within the week.


	9. Crystal Venom

**Chapter 8: Crystal Venom**

Allura sat on the floor of the holographic chamber, which had been transformed into a field of flowers under a crystal-clear blue sky. The projection of her father stood on the pedestal at the center of the room, watching her as she enjoyed the scenery of her lost home planet.

Allura plucked one of the flowers, holding it up in her hands, "I loved the smell of the mountain juniberries in the early morning breeze."

The holographic technology in the room was quite advanced, even by Altean means. It was able to trick the senses, making objects feel almost like the real thing. Holding a flower, running her hands through the grass, it was like reliving a memory. Coran could explain how it all worked, but it was easier not to bother with the details too much. Although, the one thing the holograms couldn't imitate was the sense of smell. Maybe it was for the best. If it was too real, she might never want to leave. For the same reason it was best that the projection of her father had a blue transparent glow to his image. It was enough to find his presence comforting, but not enough to mistake him for the real thing.

Alfor smiled at her fondly, "I loved those mornings as well."

"Remember the summer berry festival? People would come from all over Altea for the harvest," she reminisced fondly.

"I remember how the berry juice stained your favorite dress. You were so upset," Alfor chuckled softly, making Allura laugh as she recalled the event.

"It took forever for Mother to calm me," she reveled in the memory for a moment before frowning, "I miss Altea so much. I miss _you_ , Father. I wish it didn't have to be this way."

Alfor's tone softened, comforting her in the only way he was capable of, "I know, Allura, but, as leaders, we have to do what's right for our people, even if it means great sacrifice."

"I know, Father. That's what you always say," Allura mulled over with dismay.

It was a philosophy her father lived by, and one that he tried to pass on to her. His dedication to that philosophy had saved her life, Voltron, and could potentially save the entire universe. But it never felt quite right to her. She understood that sacrifices needed to be made for the greater good and for the sake of others, but was it worth it? All their people were gone now, and even her father admitted that he should have stood his ground and fought when the Galra attacked. So what was that sacrifice worth? It gave them a small chance to save the universe, but did that make up for everything that had been lost? In times of war and battle, sacrifices are inevitable; but maybe if they had stood together like she wanted, they could have minimized those losses.

The doors to the holographic chamber opened, breaking her train of thought and creating an opening in the projection. Coran walked in, looking slightly disapproving as he started to lecture Allura.

"Princess, there you are. What are you doing up and about? You should be resting," he scolded.

After using her powers on the Balmera and exerting herself, she was still relatively weak and needed more time to recover. Stubborn as she was, she didn't like the idea of sitting idly by or just laying around in bed all day. She was able to sneak off and check on various aspects of the castle and the paladins while Coran was caring for Adam, but now that he was awake, Coran was giving her his full care and attention.

"Oh, Coran, can't I stay?" Allura pleaded, sounding like a small child begging to stay up past her bedtime.

"The Balmera rejuvenation ceremony took a lot out of you, and you still need to rest. Don't think I haven't noticed you running off behind my back. Come along, to your room."

Coran grabbed her hand and helped her up to her feet.

"Get your rest, darling. I will be here for you when you're well," Alfor said encouragingly.

"I love you, Father. I'll see you soon."

 **VVVVVVVV**

Adam lay in his bed, a little bit listless and wide awake. After being in a medically induced coma for about a week, it was a little difficult to get a proper night sleep. He had mostly drifted in and out for most of the night, thinking about the dream he had while he was in stasis. Or, was it even a dream? It was hard to say. He had seen Shiro and Keith, and a dark version of himself. That alone suggested a crazy vivid dream, but… he had seen his brother too. He was so real, comforting him like only his brother ever could. And then there were the memories he relived, seeing them with such crystal-clear detail even though they had been years ago. Maybe it was his unconscious state that allowed him to recall things his waking mind couldn't.

Adam got out of bed, shaking his head free of those thoughts. Maybe it was best not to think about that. He had a new lease on life, and that's what was most important. He walked over to the mirror in his room, seeing where his new prosthetic arm was joined to his shoulder, his tank top just barely covering it. Adam ran his human hand over the seam, feeling the metal plates encased over the skin. There was a large scar that extended down onto his pec, but otherwise everything around his new arm had healed quite nicely with only some mild discoloration.

Adam flexed his arm, examining it more closely. It was still a little strange to look at, but it complimented his body and dark skin tone quite well. The arm was made of dark grey plates and had flexible metal fibers around the joints and bicep, letting him flex and bend his arm just like the real thing. It was a different composition than Shiro's arm, but his had been made by the Galra and only went up to his elbow, so differences were to be expected. Adam should have felt traumatized by the loss of one of his limbs like Shiro was, but for some reason… he didn't. Sure it was weird having such a drastic change to his body, but he was strangely okay with it. Maybe it was because a replaced arm was a favorable alternative to dying, a fate he had accepted at the time.

Still, it would take some getting used to. He didn't know what it was capable of outside of functioning like a normal arm. Not even Coran knew, and he built the damn thing! But as far as prosthetics went, it was a pretty damn good one.

Not only that, but quite a few things had gone on in the week that Adam had been in recovery. Pidge and Shiro filled him in on most of it yesterday. They were light on some details, but it was enough for him to get the gist. As far as he knew, Pidge had managed to regain control of the Castle of Lions during the attack long enough to let the other paladins in and defeat Sendak. but she had lost Rover in the process. When Adam awoke and saw that she was still there, he was worried that she had given up on her crusade to find her brother, and the loss of Rover would limit her access to Galra tech. She assured him that she was going to keep looking, and being part of Voltron would put her in direct contact with the Galra and new sources of information. That way she wouldn't have to chase down cold leads. He had to admit that he was glad to see her, since the two of them had developed an affinity for each other rather quickly. That aside, Sendak had been captured and was currently residing in a stasis pod as their prisoner. Adam would have preferred that he was killed in battle, but at least now they could extract information from him.

Everyone seemed to be getting along a lot better now too. Shiro had briefed him on a few of the team dynamics while he was taking care of him. They had gone on a couple missions together, most notable to liberate a living planet from the Galra. According to Pidge, Hunk had an unofficial girlfriend there, which Adam totally regretted missing. And Allura had some kind of magic power that allowed her to heal the planet. He would have to ask more about that later, but the continued teamwork and use of Voltron had bonded them all closer together. Even Keith was doing well. Although, despite Keith being initially glad to see him after he woke up, it almost felt like he was intentionally avoiding Adam after that. But it had only been a day since he came out of stasis, so he could just be reading into it wrong.

What really bothered Adam, was the fact that the castle was now flying through space. The capabilities of the castle had been mentioned before, but he still wasn't thrilled at the idea. Space was a nightmare for him, for several reasons. Although, living in a giant futuristic castle with several floors and security measures made him feel more at ease than he ever would in a modern spaceship. Or it would have, if Coran didn't keep mentioning how the castle was in desperate need of repairs. Even after a near death experience, Adam did not miss his need to cut into conversations with unnecessarily warranted information.

A knock at the door pulled his attention and he stepped away from the mirror to answer. It was probably Shiro again. He had been obsessively checking in on him every couple of hours since he woke up yesterday. It was sweet, but a little annoying. He could finally start to see why Shiro would get so bothered when Adam would fuss over him when they were younger.

Adam pressed the door panel to open, revealing Lance waiting for him on the other side. He was dressed in his casual clothes and was shuffling back and forth on his feet, obviously anxious about something.

"Oh, hey Lance. I thought you were Takashi," Adam greeted awkwardly.

"Oh right, sorry," Lance scratched the back of his head. The two of them weren't exactly close, so he should have expected their interaction to go like this.

"No, it's alright. Come on in.," Adam stepped aside, letting Lance into his room.

Lance shifted awkwardly, "So… How's your arm?"

"Still getting used to it. Seeing it in the mirror or whenever I look down is so strange. It's like this foreign thing that is just there, part of my body. But the strangest part of it all, is how natural it actually feels," he flexed his arm and moved it around, clenching and unclenching his fist, "My sense of touch in this arm feels a bit different, but otherwise, it's like nothing ever happened."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. It's like my touch is pressure based rather than reading sensations, but I hardly notice. Plus, it looks cooler than Shiro's, don't you think?" Adam quipped, his smug smile faltering when he saw Lance's slightly downtrodden expression, "Too soon to be making jokes?"

"Sorry, I'm just surprised at how well you're doing. I can't help but feel bad…" Lance admitted.

"You don't have to. I'm doing fine now. It shouldn't bother you if it doesn't bother me," Adam assured him. He was a sweet kid, more empathetic and caring than he let on, "What did you want to talk about Lance?"

"Well, I wanted to return this to you," Lance reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver ring on a broken chain, holding it out to him.

Adam's body tensed, "Why do you have that?" How could he not realize that it had been missing sooner!?

"It fell off after you got stabbed on the bridge. I grabbed it after Shiro carried you back toward the castle. I noticed you always wear it, so I thought it was important."

"It is. Thank you," Adam took it and held it up in his hand, the stark silver of the ring contrasting with the dark grey plating of his metallic palm, "I started wearing this after Shiro took off on the Kerberos mission. I couldn't stand wearing his dog tags anymore."

"You used to wear Shiro's dog tags?" Lance asked, curious about this new information.

"Yeah. It was one of those high school romantic ritual things. If you were dating someone seriously, then you'd give them one of your dog tags to wear. You know?" Adam explained offhandedly.

Lance got slightly flustered, stuttering out a response, "Oh, uh, yeah! T..totally! I've gotten like a bunch of girls tags before," he finished off smugly.

"Usually the guy is the one that gives the tags," Adam corrected him, poking a hole in his lie.

"I'm an equal opportunist!" Lance yelled, his face flushing with embarrassment.

"Hahaha. Right," Adam laughed softly. He forgot how entertaining Lance could be, and it was nice to laugh again.

"Wait, so does that mean Shiro has your dog tag?" Lance asked, becoming curious again once he made the connection.

"Yeah, but considering everything he went through, it's probably safe to say it's long gone. It's part of the reason I gave him his tags back," Adam explained.

"What was the other reason?"

"Does it really need saying?" Adam said with a flat tone. Lance withdrew into himself a little sheepishly, misreading his intent. Adam sighed, resigning himself to explain instead of making the kid feel bad, "After we broke up, I couldn't stand wearing his dog tags anymore. They just reminded me of everything I'd lost, and… it hurt too much."

"So then, why the ring?" Lance asked a little pointedly, his body language relaxing a bit. Did he know?

Adam scoffed out a laugh, "Heh, oddly enough it actually made me feel better. When news broke about the Kerberos mission, I'd fidget around with this," he held up the ring to him, twirling it in his fingers, "It calmed me in some weird way. I kept it close to my heart to help me through the lonely nights. As long as I had it, thinking about Shiro still hurt, but in a good way. I know that probably doesn't make much sense, but…"

"No… No, I get it," Lance cut in, his eyes sympathetic.

Adam sighed heavily, running his hand through his hair, "Sorry. I didn't mean to get all serious on you."

"It's okay," he smiled supportively. He really was a sweet kid.

"Thank you for bringing this back to me," Adam gripped the ring tight in his palm.

Lance shifted awkwardly again, looking a little guilty, "Well, I was going to give it to Shiro to give back to you, because you guys are so close. Or well, you know…" Lance trailed off, which Adam just shrugged off, urging him to continue, "But then I, um, read what was written on the inside…"

"Right…," Adam looked down. Damn. So he _had_ noticed. He looked Lance directly in the eye, his expression intense but calm, "Did anyone else see?"

"No. I'm the only one," he shook his head fervently.

Adam nodded, turning away from Lance slightly and putting the ring in his pocket, "Good. That's good. It's better that no one else see it, especially Takashi…"

Lance stepped forward, a little confused and insistent, "But, why not? You both still care about each other, right? You could talk to him."

Adam dismissed him, "Our relationship is a lot more complicated than that right now. We're just finally getting back to a good place without all the drama of our past. There's no reason to ask for more than that."

Adam and Shiro had a quite a few heavy-handed conversations about their relationship since they reunited. There was an especially big one right before Adam got injured. But coming back from his injury made him realize how superfluous all those moments were. All that mattered was that they still cared about each other, and he didn't want to jeopardize that by bringing up the qualms of their past yet again. It was getting old, and they needed to move forward to start a new kind of relationship. Even if it was one that wasn't necessarily romantic.

"But don't you want to? Why else would you be wearing that ring?" Lance pointed out. His voice was a little accusing, but he meant well.

Adam sighed once more, smiling at Lance, but portraying a sadness in his eyes, "I care about Takashi a lot, but there are too many obstacles in our way, and we have a mission we need to focus on. Maybe one day we could start over and try again, but it's not the right time. And maybe there never will be a right time, but we have to decide that for ourselves. Until then, I just want to be able to be myself around him, without all the drama."

"Yeah, okay," Lance shrunk away, feeling bad about pressing so hard. Thinking the matter was put to rest, he turned around to leave.

"Lance, wait," Adam called to him, making him stop. Adam came up next to him, an apologetic smile on his face, "I really appreciate that you care so much, but it's nothing you have to worry about. We'll figure it out. You just focus on being part of Voltron."

Putting pressure on his relationship with Shiro was still a sensitive topic, but Lance was just looking out for them in his own way. Being that he idolized Shiro, and by association Adam, he probably just wanted to try and help them reconcile. It was a nice sentiment, albeit a foolish one. These kinds of things couldn't be forced, and they took time to form. Still, Adam didn't want Lance to leave and feel like he had done something wrong.

"Got it," Lance smiled softly, sensing Adam's honesty.

Adam smirked at Lance knowingly, "And who knows, with a little hard work, you might just catch the eye of a certain princess."

Like a light switch, something inside Lance clicked and he became excited once again, "You think!?"

Adam held back a laugh at how quickly he had switched gears, "Maybe, but what do I know about romance?"

Lance smirked and raised an eyebrow, "Plenty, I think. Why else would you have that?" Lance gestured to the broken chain from Adam's ring dangling out of his pocket.

Adam was a little taken aback at his sudden boldness, "Well aren't you a cheeky bastard?" Adam leaned forward and got in his face, "Weren't you the one who got hogtied to a tree while some alien babe made off with your lion?"

"…. Pidge told you, didn't she?"

"Immediately," Adam laughed, victorious. He'd died before any of these kids could out sass him.

They laughed, the tension from their previous conversation falling away. They only had a few interactions, but Adam felt like he could trust Lance. His energy was different from the others, and it was a nice change of pace.

Their laughter was cut off as Coran's voice rang in through the intercom system, "Paladins, please report to the main deck."

Lance looked at Adam expectantly, as if seeking approval. He merely nodded his head toward the door in response, spurning Lance to take off down the hall.

 _I might as well go too_ , Adam thought to himself. He pulled the ring and broken chain out of his pocket, examining it once more. He held it up to his face, reading the inscription on the inside. Two simple words that promised a lifetime of happiness. A constant reminder of what him and Shiro almost had together. Even if it was over now, these two words reminded him of one of the happiest times of his life, and the love and dedication he was willing to give.

 **ADAM SHIROGANE**

 **VVVVVVVV**

Adam dressed and met Coran and the others in the main deck. From there, Coran guided them to the hall where Sendak was being kept in stasis lock. It was a little strange to see this giant imposing figure locked away in a glass tube. It was like looking at a great white shark from behind a glass window while it slept. Adam felt uneasy seeing him again, but he decided not to let it show. He didn't want anyone fussing over him or treating him with kid gloves. He already felt like he was back at 100 percent, so there was no need.

Coran reached up and placed some kind of glass tube with a kind of fluid on top of Sendak's pod, mounting it there and connecting some wires.

"Okay, guys, Sendak's almost all hooked up. But, look, I have to warn you, this technology was used to keep Altean memories alive, not to interrogate prisoners," he told them.

Wait, what? Had Coran been talking the whole time since the main deck? Crap! Adam hadn't been listening to him at all. He'd been so lost in thought he hadn't heard anything he said.

Shiro spoke up, "Coran, we understand this isn't what the technology was meant for, but if we can extract Sendak's memories, we may gain valuable intelligence on Zarkon's troop locations."

Well that pretty much summed it all up nicely. _Thanks Takashi_ , Adam said internally.

"Fascinating. So, how exactly does this work?" Pidge asked, her inquisitive nature prompting her to understand the process of It all.

 _God no. Damn it Pidge!_

"As the memories are extracted, they're written bit by bit on individual molecules of the micro-storage strands," Coran explained simply, not bothering to clarify what any of that meant.

 _Oh, thank god. He kept it short._

"When I go, I want all the stuff in my brain stored in a giant ship," Lance mused fondly, liking the idea of being a sentient ship.

"The amount of information in your brain could be stored in a paper airplane," Keith quipped.

Lance pipped up, ready to butt heads with Keith once again, "Oh, yeah!? Well, the amount of information you have, could be..."

"... Yeah?" Keith prodded, waiting expectantly for the comeback.

"Uh... it's less than what I have!" Lance finished.

Adam facepalmed himself. Maybe he should teach the kid how to throw a proper insult, even if it was just playful banter. It could be fun to have a protege. Shiro already had his sarcastic dark humor, Keith was sarcastic and uncaring, Pidge was smart enough to counter anything, and Hunk was too soft hearted to insult anyone.

"Good one, Lance!" Hunk yelled supportively, as if on cue to support Adam's internal claim.

Not bothering with her friend's banter, Pidge continued to direct her questions at Coran, "So this is how you incorporated King Alfor's memories into the Castle of Lions?"

Coran nodded, "Precisely, but it's never been attempted before on an unwilling participant."

A loud beep sounded out from the device as the tube lit up. They all looked up at it expectantly, but nothing happened. The pod remained empty, but active.

"Uh, is this what's supposed to be happening?" Hunk asked, wondering if he was misinterpreting how it worked.

"Let's give it some time," Shiro insisted. If the device had to take memories from someone uncooperative, it was safe to assume it would take a while.

Time passed by at an agonizingly slow pace. Mere minutes standing in front of the pod felt like hours. Shiro stood like a statue in front of Sendak, watching him with intense determination. Adam was a little concerned by that, but he didn't want to bring it up while everyone else was still waiting around. Instead he talked with Lance and Pidge for a bit, wanting to get to know them better. Hunk was leaning back against the wall, on the verge of falling asleep, and Keith alternated between standing next to Shiro and doing some light exercises like push-ups and sit-ups.

Never being one for waiting around, eventually Keith's impatient nature won out. He rose to his feet and started to walk down the hall as he addressed the room, "Well, I can't wait around anymore. I'm gonna hit the training deck."

He walked away without another word. No one bothered to stop him since he had been pretty much training the entire time they were waiting anyway. And considering how much time had passed waiting for something to happen, it probably didn't matter at this point if he left. But for curiosity sake, the rest continued to wait, hoping that just maybe they would be able to extract even just a couple memories.

Minutes ticked by, all of them restless and slowly losing faith in this plan. One by one they all started to leave the hall. Pidge left to try and pull information from Sendak's power crystal that he had used to take over the castle during his assault. Hunk held out for a surprisingly long time before leaving to make some food. Apparently he had become the unofficial chef while Adam was in a coma. Eventually, even Coran left to attend to other duties.

"Well, I'm afraid I can't wait here any longer, either. I have a million duties to attend to. Between that Galra Crystal infecting our system, and then fighting off those ships and performing the Balmeran rejuvenation ceremony, the old Castle of Lions has taken quite a beating. Every system needs to be recharged and repaired."

Shiro stood resolute, "I'll stay. Somewhere in Sendak's mind is the information about Zarkon that we need."

Lance hopped up to his feet, "Okay, well, while you guys do that, I think I'm gonna get my chill on. Maybe kick back with a lemonade or space juice. Something."

Coran intercepted him and grabbed him by the shoulder, "Oh, hold on there, space juice. You're going to come and help me."

"What? Why me?" Lance whined. No one else had to help him!

"Because you're the last one and because your activity isn't very important," Coran said matter-of-factly, guiding him out of the hall.

Lance scrambled for an excuse, lightly struggling to escape, "Wait, did I say, 'chill with a good lemonade'? I meant I gotta do homework. Come on!"

"Nope. Too late."

Adam chuckled lightly. He shouldn't find Lance's misery so amusing, but it really was. Then again, he dd always enjoy taunting and teasing people. This was kinda in the same vain. Besides, some discipline would probably be good for the kid. He was definitely the unruliest of the bunch. Most would think that role would go to Keith, but Keith had a silent determination and code of honor that directed his actions. Lance didn't really seem to have any direction as far as Adam could see. But he'd probably find his own way in time.

Lance deflated, finally conceding to Coran's instructions, "Fine... Let us know if anything happens," he directed back at Shiro and Adam.

"Sure thing," Adam nodded, watching them walk off.

But Lance seemed to falter for a moment, looking past Adam, "Shiro?"

At hearing his name, Shiro stuttered slightly, barely taking his eyes off Sendak's pod, "Y-You got it."

Lance looked slightly concerned, but Adam merely exchanged a look with him, nodding and letting him know that he'd look after him. After that, Lance and Coran left to go make repairs to the castle. While Lance may have been directionless, he definitely seemed to care about Shiro quite a bit. He was Lance's idol during his time in the Garrison after all. Adam could relate, and right now he needed to be the one to look after him.

"Are you feeling alright?" Adam walked up next to Shiro, forcing him to divert his attention away from the pod.

Shiro shook his head as if coming out of a daze, "Sorry. I was just lost in thought."

Adam glanced up Sendak, crossing his arms and subconsciously covering his metal one, "Does having him on the ship bother you?"

Shiro shook his head, "I can't quite figure it out, but I feel like I remember something about him," Shiro sighed, resting a palm on his head, "I just wish my memories hadn't been stripped away. I feel like I'm missing part of myself."

"Well, I know what it's like to wake up and find out a part of yourself is missing," Adam joked, taking a stab at Shiro's signature dark humor.

Shiro looked at him wide-eyed, an immediate look of regret covering his face, "God, I'm sorry. I didn't think… I was being selfish again," he gestured toward Sendak, "This is the monster that nearly killed you. I should have…"

Adam waved him off, urging him to stop, "It's fine Takashi. I'm just relieved that he's…. well not behind bars, but you know," he shrugged.

Shiro went quiet for a moment, looking away as he spoke, "You nearly died in my arms…. It was horrible to see."

Adam lifted his hand up, guiding Shiro's face to look at him, "But I didn't. You saved me Takashi," Adam gave him a soft supportive smile. Shiro had a bad habit of taking too much on himself. This was something he shouldn't have to carry any guilt about.

Shiro gave a small smile of appreciation before speaking up, "So…uh… you're calling me Takashi again?" he raised an eyebrow slightly.

Adam immediately felt his face flush, "Oh, right… I guess I forgot… I didn't mean to… I mean I did, but I…" he stammered, looking for an excuse. He had completely forgotten that he wasn't supposed to refer to Shiro in such an intimate way anymore. But he was so used to calling him that, it just felt natural to do so.

Shiro cut in, a hint of urgency in his voice, "No, no. It's okay. You can call me Takashi. It doesn't have to mean anything," he gave an awkward reassuring smile as he trailed off.

"Right…." Adam agreed, the tension between them rising until finally Adam chuckled and put a hand on his head, "God. How did we get so messed up?"

"We're just lucky I guess," Shiro shrugged, smiling as he felt the tension lift.

"Well, you're probably more fucked up than I am," Adam accused casually.

"What?"

Adam looked at him genuinely surprised, "Come on Takashi. I used to yell and curse you out all the time when we were cadets, and you still followed me around like a damn puppy dog!"

Shiro pipped up defensively, "I thought you could use a friend! You were always alone whenever I saw you!"

"Oh really?" Adam questioned, not believing his reason. Not even Takashi Shirogane was _that_ nice.

Shiro blushed slightly, scratching softly at the side of his face with his finger, "Plus… I thought your angry face was really cute," he mumbled out.

"What!? My angry face was menacing, not cute!" How dare he say something so offensive!

"Yes it was!" Shiro swore, "You'd make this adorable little scrunch face, and your glasses would poke into your cheeks and make these tiny little red marks that looked like you were blushing. That's what I call cute," he asserted, crossing his arms with a huff for emphasis.

"Sh… Shut up!" Adam stuttered out, feeling equally offended as he was pleased. This man could be so perfectly frustrating, "How did I ever fall in love with you?"

"Irresistible charm?" Shiro smirked.

"More like a weakness for dumb jocks," Adam countered. They stared each other down before laughing. Their relationship had gotten so weird, but this was nice. Adam wiped a tear from his eyes, his laughter waning, "I feel so sorry for those kids. _We're_ the adult role models they're supposed to look up to?"

Remembering something, Shiro's laughter died down and he became more thoughtfully intent, "Speaking of which, can you do me a favor?" Adam composed himself, waiting to see what he would ask, "Can you go talk to Keith? Something's been bothering him, and he won't talk to me about it."

"And you think he'll talk to _me_?" He realized how absurd that sounded, right?

"I think it might be about you, and what the two of you went through fighting Sendak," he explained.

"Hmm. I thought I noticed him keeping a distance from me, but he seemed fine just a while ago," Adam mulled aloud. He thought Keith was isolating himself from the way he seemed to be avoiding him, but he was engaging with Lance and the others so casually earlier. Adam just figured he was reading too much into it.

"He's been getting along with the team well, but otherwise he's always training. I'm worried he's pushing himself too far," Shiro explained, his voice layered with concern and doubt.

"Wow, it must be really serious if _you_ think he's training too much," Adam said pointedly.

"Adam…" Shiro scolded him, annoyed by the jab.

But Adam wasn't wrong. Shiro was well aware of what it was like to constantly train and push past his limits, but that was the response to his own insecurities and fear. That meant there had to be something seriously troubling Keith if he was doing the same thing.

Adam held up his hands defensively, pleased that he had managed to distract Shiro from worrying by making him annoyed, "I know, I know. Don't worry, I'll go check on him. Will you be alright staying here by yourself?"

"I'll be fine," he nodded.

Adam started down the hall toward the training deck, calling out to Shiro over his shoulder, "Try not to stare at him too hard. You might accidentally shoot lasers out of your eyes and drill a hole through him. Then where will we be?" He heard Shiro scoff, prompting Adam to stop and turn around. He threw a hand over his heart, speaking in an overly dramatic tone, "Or maybe I'll get insanely jealous of how you look at him! How horrific!"

"Funny," Shiro deadpanned.

Adam shrugged, pleased with himself, "I thought so. Be back in a few."

 **VVVVVVVV**

Allura was resting peacefully in her bed, when a faint voice calling out to her roused her from her sleep.

"Allura... Allura?" A masculine voice called out.

She tossed and turned, cracking her eyes open to see who was there. She thought it might have been Coran, but the faint blueish glow of a figure hovering over her told her otherwise.

"Allura, dear daughter..." Alfor's A.I. called out to her once again.

She sat up, the sound of her father's voice urging her awake. She was a little confused at his presence. She didn't even realize that her father's A.I. could leave the bounds of the holographic chamber. It was a little perplexing, but despite that she couldn't help feeling at ease in his presence.

"Father, what are you doing here?" she asked, still a little drowsy and weak. It must have been important if he needed to come to her in the middle of the night.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Shiro stood in front of Sendak's pod, staring him down and waiting for the device to activate. This beast knew everything Shiro needed to know. He had secrets about the Galra and Zarkon's army, and he might even know what happened to Shiro. All that aside, he was also the one that nearly took Adam away from him, so there was no need to be gentle.

"I know you're in there, Sendak. I know you have all the answers. Give them to me," Shiro ordered.

When nothing still happened, Shiro clicked his tongue in frustration. Even when unconscious, this monster was being uncooperative and resistant. Shiro slammed his human fist against the pod, his anger rising. Just thinking about how Sendak had hurt the people he cared for most was enough to make his blood boil.

"You're a broken soldier! You can't hold out forever!" Shiro yelled. He wasn't sure if his words were even having an effect on him, but this was more or less a way to vent his anger.

Suddenly a loud beep rang out from above him, making Shiro look up at the memory device. It had lit up as a memory entered the tube. Shiro looked bac down at Sendak, a smirk on his face now that he had managed to get through to him.

"So, you _can_ hear me."

 **VVVVVVVV**

Adam walked onto the training room floor, seeing Keith fighting the mechanical gladiator with his sword. This time the gladiator was equipped with a sword instead of the bo staff it had used to before. Keith must have customized it for his particular choice of weapon. He swerved in and out of the range of its strikes, blocking and striking with controlled ferocity. Adam just watched, leaning against the wall and waiting until Keith finished it off. It only took a few moments before he finally slashed his sword through the middle of its torso, making it fall apart into two pieces. The floor opened up underneath the broken pieces to clear the battlefield, prepping for the next round.

"Good form, but your footwork is a little sloppy," Adam called out to him from the sidelines.

"You here to criticize me?" Keith asked accusingly.

Adam shook his head, "Nope. Just checking in. Making sure you're not pushing yourself too hard. From what I hear you spend all your time training," Adam moved off the wall, walking toward him on the training field.

As Adam stepped out onto the floor, a new Gladiator droid started to rise out of the floor, this time holding two swords in its hands as it registered Adam as a new combatant.

"End training sequence!" Keith yelled, the droid powering down and sinking back into the floor. Keith reverted his sword back into a bayard, directing his attention back at Adam, "Did Shiro send you?"

"He's just concerned," Adam dismissed, knowing just how condescending it would come across if he affirmed that.

Keith crossed his arms, still upset by his response, "He doesn't have to be. I just need to get stronger."

Hmm. That was a strange declaration to make.

"Is that all? Don't get me wrong, it's a worthwhile goal for sure, but that doesn't feel like the whole story. You're already pretty strong as is," Adam admitted.

"I wasn't strong enough to protect you," Keith turned his head away, refusing to look him in the eye.

"What?" Adam was completely shocked. He'd never expected to hear Keith say anything like that in reference to him.

"When Sendak attacked the castle, I was supposed to take care of you. I was supposed to keep you safe, and look what happened," he gestured towards Adam's mechanical arm, his voice riddled with guilt, "You almost died."

Adam spoke calmly, the memory of the battle burned into his mind, "What happened wasn't your fault. I made the choice. And if I hadn't thrown you through that barrier, he probably would have killed us both."

"I know that!" Keith yelled in his face. Startled by his own outburst, Keith took a step back and calmed himself a bit before continuing on, "I know, and I'm grateful for what you did. But I can't help but feel responsible. Shiro trusted me to look after you, and I failed. You got hurt because I wasn't good enough."

"Keith…" Adam wasn't sure what to say. He totally wasn't the right person for this, and he was probably still a little delirious from being in the healing pod for so long. For a split second, he thought he saw Keith's eyes turn yellow when he yelled at him.

Keith sighed heavily, "I'm tired of losing people. I'm tired of not being good enough. So I'll put myself through anything to get stronger," Keith clenched his fist in silent determination.

"That's why you wouldn't talk to Takashi about this," Adam said, the reason finally dawning on him. Keith had lost his only family, just like Adam had. Then when Shiro disappeared from both their lives, and it nearly destroyed them in their own ways. And then Adam almost went and died right in front of him, right in front of the person they both cared about most. It was no wonder Keith was acting like this.

"How could I? He wouldn't understand. He always sees the best in me. He'd just tell me not to be so hard on myself, and say something like, 'be patient' and 'grow at your own pace.' But that's not good enough. You were injured, and you took care of _me!_ How pathetic is that?"

"It's not pathetic," Adam assured him, "We were fighting against a monster, in every sense of the word. We both pushed ourselves to our limit, and the only reason I was able to keep going like I did was because I had you there to help me."

"I barely did anything. At best I was a distraction for him," Keith scoffed.

"In a battle, a split-second distraction can mean the difference between life and death," Adam told him.

"Stop trying to make me feel better," Keith said with a hint of spite. He didn't like being patronized.

"I'm not. I'm telling you the truth," Adam looked him directly in the eye, needing to convey just how much he meant what he was about to say, "I understand how you feel. I lost my brother years ago, and there was nothing I could do for him. Everyday, I wish I had been stronger back then. I wish I had made the choices that would have saved his life. But there was no way I could have known what would happen, just like there was no way you could have known what was going to happen when we fought Sendak. And the only solution we can come to is to get stronger, and make sure it never happens again."

Keith was a little stunned, looking at Adam with a mixture of perplexation and relief, "You do understand."

"More than you know," Adam said, his heart forever gripped by the pain of loss and regret.

Keith shifted uncomfortably. He never expected someone to actually get where he was coming from. He didn't know where to go from here, "So… what do you think I should do now?"

Adam took a deep breath. He wasn't sure if it was the best advice, but he knew what he would have wanted to hear, "I'm not gonna tell you to stop training. I'm not gonna tell you that everyone is going to be okay. We're at war, and there are going to be hard battles ahead. So I say keep training and keep learning all you can. Keep pushing yourself to be better to protect the people you care about. That's all you really can do."

Keith looked doubtful, probably because Adam's advice didn't really change anything about what Keith was doing, "What if it's not enough?"

Adam rested a hand on Keith's shoulder, emulating the sign of comfort that him and Shiro had developed, "Then you keep trying, as many times as it takes."

"Thank you," Keith smiled out of the corner of his mouth. He could feel Adam's sincerity in that gesture, and it meant a lot.

Adam took a step back and shrugged, "Don't mention it. I don't always give these kinds of heartfelt speeches. I sure have been giving a lot of them today though…"

"No, I mean… Thank you, for understanding."

"Anytime," Adam smiled weakly. He was glad to help, but it felt weird to have this intimate bond with Keith after years of animosity and tension. Maybe it was a promise that he could form new relationships with the people in his life. He turned away and walked off the training room floor, "I'll leave you to train. Do me a favor though, take care of your own body. You're no good to anyone if you strain yourself, and Takashi would kill me if he knew it was my fault."

"No promises," Keith said smugly, slightly liking the idea of getting Adam in trouble.

"Punk," Adam laughed.

"Jackass," Keith smiled.

Adam left the room, feeling good about how their talk went. Finally, him and Keith had established a respect and an understanding of one another. He never really admitted it before, but him and Keith were so similar in so many ways. He used to think Keith was more like Shiro, given how close the two of them were. Keith even exhibited the same passion and dedication for the mission that Shiro had. But his anger, his tragic past, and his reluctance to get close to people? That made him more like Adam than anything. Maybe that was another reason they never really got along before. But now, they had moved past that. They had risked their lives for one another, and they had come to an understanding. It felt good. Shiro would definitely be happy to learn they were getting along now.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Shiro was still stationed in front of Sendak's pod, watching him and trying to break him. Now that he knew Sendak could hear him, he decided to throw out question after question in the hopes that he could shake a memory loose out of him. Eventually Sendak would have to slip and give them some information, Shiro just needed to keep up the pressure.

"What was the first rank you held in Zarkon's army? Where did you find the Red Lion? What is Zarkon's greatest weakness?"

"What makes you think you can possibly defeat him?" the sound of Sendak's voice echoed throughout the room, startling Shiro and making him take a step back.

Shiro spun around the room and looked around just to make sure that no one else was in there with him. He looked back up at Sendak's pod, who was still quite asleep inside.

Shiro stepped toward Sendak again, "If you were to attack Zarkon, where would you strike?"

Once again, Sendak's voice rang out to him, "Why strike at all when you can join him?"

Shiro looked around and then back at Sendak, wondering how he was doing this. When he looked back at Sendak's face, he could have sworn he saw him awake and staring back at him. Shiro gasped, instinctively putting up his guard. He blinked and looked again, seeing Sendak was still just as asleep as before. Was the memory pod capable of letting him communicate like this? Coran had never said anything about it. What was this?

 **VVVVVVVV**

Adam walked down the hall back towards the hall where Shiro was watching over Sendak. The talk with Keith had gone over well. It felt good to be on favorable terms with him. It was almost starting to feel like the old days back in the Garrison, except now Shiro didn't have to force them to get along. He'd be happy to hear that for sure. Although, he'd have to explain to him that training was just Keith's way of coping.

"Adam," a quiet voice echoed down the hall.

Adam looked over his shoulder, looking for the source of the voice, but saw no one.

"Adam," It echoed again.

He looked to his left, hearing it more clearly this time. The voice was coming from the East wing, where their living quarters were. But as far as he knew, no one else was there right now. Adam took a hesitant step in that direction.

"Hello!?" he called out, waiting to hear a response from what he hoped was one of his teammates, "Hunk? Is that you? Lance?"

Adam slowly walked down the hall, a little hesitant and on guard. Something felt wrong about this. If someone was calling for him, why wouldn't they just use the castle intercom system or walk right up to him? This could all just be a prank by Lance or Pidge, but this felt more sinister. As Adam reached the end of the hall, he took a deep breath and lunged forward, whirling around to see if anyone was hiding behind the corners. No one. What the hell was going on around here?

A voice once again rang out from down the hall, this time down another corridor further to the left. The voice wasn't loud enough to be recognizable. Adam felt a small sense of panic course through his body. This was just like his dream, but this voice wasn't warm and inviting. This one felt cold, and emotionless, like it was trying to entice him and led him away from something. But he wasn't heading anywhere important. Why would it try to lead him away unless… Shiro!

Adam took off back down the hall toward Shiro. Something was wrong. He could feel it in his gut. As he ran, a chorus of voices echoed throughout the halls around him, calling out and wailing. That all but confirmed his suspicions. He had no idea what was going on, but these voices were trying to distract him and keep him away from Shiro. But why? He needed to get back to him as quickly as he could.

 **VVVVVVVV**

"We're connected, you and me. Both part of the Galra Empire," Sendak's voice rang out like an echo, continuing to taunt him.

Shiro took an instinctual step back, his breathing getting heavier with his increasing anxiety, "No! I'm not like you."

"Don't you remember? You've been broken and reformed. Just look at your hand."

Shiro looked down at his mechanical arm in horror. He placed his human hand over it, trying to hide it from himself.

"That's not me!" he shook his head, his voice becoming more aggressive as panic started to overtake him.

Sendak kept on, his voice sounding like he was relishing every second, "It's the strongest part of you. Embrace it. The others don't know what you know. They haven't seen what you've seen. You'll never beat Zarkon, and you know it. He's already defeated you."

"I'm not listening to you!" Shiro cried.

He hunched over in panic, gasping as memories poured into his mind. He could see a battle arena, and Galra soldiers charging towards him. He could see other prisoners being tortured and slaughtered before his eyes, unable to help. And he could see himself being tortured and tormented, fighting back with ferocity. He fought, and stabbed, and killed….

Memories of blood and pain flooded Shiro's mind as Sendak's voice rang in his ears, as clear as if it was being projected into his own mind, "Do you really think a monster like you could be a Voltron Paladin!?"

"Stop it!" Shiro screamed, punching Sendak's pod with his robotic hand, causing the glass to crack.

In that moment, everything went quiet. The only thing Shiro could hear was the sound of his heart pounding in his ears, panting heavily. After a brief silence, Shiro glanced up at Sendak, making sure that the pod was still keeping him sedated and contained. Sendak looked calm, a stark contrast to the menacing voice that had pushed him into a panic attack. As he looked at Sendak's face, he couldn't help but feel there was something familiar about it. Something he couldn't quite remember….

Without warning, Sendak opened his eyes, baring his teeth in a menacing smile and snarling. The sudden shock hit Shiro like a shot in the heart. He cried out in shock and slammed his fist against the eject button, sending Sendak's pod plummeting into the floor and shooting him out into space.

The alarm blared as Shiro collapsed to his hands and knees, trying desperately to get his breathing under control. What was going on with him? He could literally feel himself sweating. He had never felt like this before. It was almost like his body wasn't his own.

"Takashi! Are you alright? What happened?"

The sound of another voice made him look up. Adam was running towards him from down the fall. He dropped to his knees in front of Shiro, placing his hands on Shiro's shoulders to help him sit up.

"Sendak…" he gasped out, Adam looking over Shiro's body for any sign of injury.

"Where is he?" Had he escaped and hurt Shiro? His pod was gone, and the alarm was going off while Shiro sat huddled on the floor. It was the easiest assumption to make. Maybe whatever was causing those voices from earlier also found a way to let him out.

"Gone…. I ejected him…" Shiro's choked out in shaky breathes.

Adam lifted his head up, pulling out his pen light and shining it in his eyes. His pupils were completely dilated, and his whole body was shaking. It only took a moment for Adam to realize what was going on.

He held Shiro out at arm's length, resting his hands on both his shoulders and looking him deep in the eyes, "Okay, you're having an attack. Just focus on me and breathe deeply."

Shiro looked at him, his face twisted up in pain and his breathing slowing down. He lunged forward and hugged Adam tightly, catching him completely off guard.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for everything," Shiro gasped into his ear.

Adam hugged him back, holding him to keep him from going over the edge, "Takashi, it's okay. It's not your fault."

"Yes it is," Shiro nodded furiously. He pulled back, looking at him like he wanted to cry, "Yes it is."

He lunged forward once more, burying his face in Adam's shoulder. Adam could feel his body shiver against his own, and it left Adam speechless. It was all he could do to hug him back and hold him close. It was selfish, but Adam couldn't help but wish he could hold him like this all the time. A creeping thought that settled in the back of his mind and wouldn't let go. But now wasn't the time. He needed to be here for Shiro as a friend and medical expert. He had to be serious.

"I hurt you. I was so selfish. It's all my fault," Shiro spat out in rapid, uncontrolled pants. He was panicking.

"Takashi, it's okay. I forgive you. Okay? I forgive you," Adam said, doing his best to appease him. He needed to say or do whatever he could to pull Shiro out of this.

Shiro shook his head furiously, "You shouldn't. I'm a monster… I've hurt… so many people. I killed so many, I….!"

Shiro's ramblings was cut as Adam pulled away from him slightly, lunging forward and capturing Shiro's lips in a desperate kiss. He felt Shiro's body tense against him, frozen in shock and his breathing coming to a halt. He needed to get Shiro to stop freaking out, otherwise he was liable to pass out. This was the only thing he could think of in the moment. Adam pulled away slowly, not wanting to startle Shiro anymore than he had. Shiro looked confused and a little desperate, his panting having come to a stop.

"Sorry…" Adam gasped out, not realizing how much that kiss had affected him as well, "I, um…. I needed to get you to calm down. Usually the best way to deal with a panic attack is to slow their breathing."

"So… why…?"

"It was the only thing I could think of. I knew you'd hold your breath if I kissed you, and I hoped it would shock you out of your panic," Adam admitted. It seemed to have worked, although he had to admit he felt guilty at how much he had enjoyed it. Not that they hadn't been more intimate in the past, but this was a different.

"I think it worked," Shiro agreed, exhaling deeply as he started to regain some mental clarity. He hugged Adam tightly again, still coming down from his attack, "What I said…"

"We don't have to talk about it," Adam told him.

"I'm sorry," Shiro apologized, ignoring him.

"It was just the adrenaline talking," Adam told him. The things he said couldn't be trusted. It was like listening to a drunk man. There might be some truth to what he said, but it comes from a delirious state that can't be trusted.

"No… I mean… I'm sorry for us," Shiro said, settling more against Adam's body, as if he was afraid that he would disappear from his arms somehow.

Adam was taken by surprise at hearing that, but he agreed with the sentiment. He reached up and soothingly petted the back of Shiro's hair, cradling his head in the crook of his neck, "I know..."

Eventually, they were just sitting there on the ground holding one another. The fact that Shiro could feel so relaxed in his arms made Adam's conviction falter. They pulled apart slightly, looking at each other in the eye. It was a brief moment that felt like an eternity. Shiro's eyes darted down to Adam's lips briefly. Adam wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he saw him lean forward ever so slightly. Adam dipped his head and pushed Shiro off him by his shoulders.

"Just stay seated for a couple minutes. You're through the worst of it, but you should take a moment," he told him awkwardly.

Shiro nodded, disheartened but understanding. Maybe he was feeling the same urge that Adam was feeling? But it'd be wrong to act on these emotions right now, especially since Shiro was in a desperate and vulnerable state. Besides, there were more important things to worry about. For starters, what was causing all those voices from earlier, and why had it tried to keep Adam from Shiro? And what had caused Shiro to fall into a panic attack and eject Sendak into space? Something was going on around here.

 **VVVVVVVV**

"Alteans flowers are the most beautiful," Alfor said, holding up one of the juniberries as he stood with Allura in the holographic chamber once again. He held it out to her, which she gratefully took.

"It is sad that I will only see them in my dreams. But, when I wake, my memories are like these spores, scattered in the wind."

"Altea is not merely a dream, Allura. It still exists. The Alteans flower, you can see it. You can touch it. I can take you there. I can take you home."

"You can?" Allura was bewildered and in disbelief. Was this a dream? It seemed too good to be true, but her father wouldn't ever lie to her. Not about this. This was everything she ever wanted.

"Would you like to go home?" Alfor asked, enticing her into following him.

"Yes. I want to go back to Altea, Father," while part of her knew that there was a chance that her father was wrong and there would be nothing there, she just had to see for herself. Going home was so important to her, and she was ready to believe anything.

"Then come with me, and I will show you the way," her father smiled, guiding her out of the chamber as his image began to flicker and turn into a reddish tint.

 **VVVVVVVV**

After a couple minutes had passed, the entire team, except for Allura, came running up towards Adam and Shiro. Shiro was still sitting on the ground with Adam by his side, prompting the others to check on him. Keith crouched down next to him and Adam stood to address the others.

"Shiro, are you okay?" Keith asked, the most obviously concerned.

"Where's Sendak?" Pidge asked, the first to notice the missing pod.

Shiro spoke up, his voice more controlled, "I had to get him out of here. I was hearing his voice. He can't be trusted on this ship."

Shiro still sounded paranoid and anxious, but that was because Sendak was the source of his trauma. And if what Adam had experienced was any indication, something on this sip might have been messing with him to exacerbate his trauma. That aside, he was much more in control than he was earlier and was getting over his attack. He rose to his feet, standing with Keith as the others spoke up.

"It is the ship!" Lance shouted, taking Shiro's statement as a confirmation of something, "I got stuck in a cryo-pod, then in an airlock! Keith got attacked by a robot, and Hunk and Pidge were floating around in zero G after being attacked by food!" Adam and Shiro looked down at him like he was insane, prompting him to reply with an exasperated sigh, "It's been a weird morning."

It's not that Adam doubted him, but the amalgamation of events didn't add up. Some of them were harmless like Hunk and Pidge's situation, whereas others were straight up lethal. Plus, Adam didn't consider the source of the problem to be the ship itself, "So let me get this straight, the ship, which doubles as our spacecraft/living space, is malfunctioning?"

"More like it's possessed! It's attacking us left and right!" Lance squealed.

"I haven't been attacked yet," Adam replied, "But I heard voices and wailing coming from the halls. I tried to follow them, but I couldn't see anything. I think it was trying to keep me away from Takashi."

"Sounds like it was trying to distract you, same way it incapacitated me and Hunk by turning off the artificial gravity in the hangar bay," Pidge reasoned.

That made sense but suggested that the ship was acting with intent. Malfunctions would be random and unpredictable, and yet, Adam was intentionally being led away from Shiro and Sendak. There had to be something he was missing, but it was hard to get a full grasp of what it could be. Not to mention the fact that he has no idea how any of this alien technology fully works.

"What the heck!? Why am I the only one it's trying to kill!?" Lance whined, both annoyed and offended that everyone else seemed to get off easier than he did.

"Well, I had a robot trying to kill me!" Keith reminded him.

"This isn't about you!" Lance yelled at him before turning to Coran, "I don't care what you say, Coran. This castle has gone apples and bananas!"

"Alright! Enough," Adam cut in. He liked Lance, but his screaming needed to take a backseat to the problem at hand, "The castle is malfunctioning. We need to figure out why and how we can fix it. The last thing we need is to be left drifting alone in space. Coran, what can you tell us?"

Coran groaned and walked over to the computer terminal that was next to Sendak's now missing pod. He started scrolling through system diagnostics as he spoke, "Perhaps the infection from Sendak's Galra crystal is worse than we thought."

"The one that he used as a power source?" Adam asked aloud.

"Well, let's get rid of it," Hunk reasoned, hoping it was as simple as that.

"It's too late," Coran shook his head, "When Sendak plugged it into the ship, it corrupted the entire system."

"Like a faulty CPU," Adam mulled to himself. He didn't fully understand the crystalized power sources they seemed to use, or how they were also alive in a sense, but he could think about it in terms that he understood. If a power source is corrupted it could make a whole system crash. Although, something had to be missing. The castle was malfunctioning specifically in the areas they all were, not sporadically. How would that even be possible, and why would it target them?

"What? That's not possible!" Coran exclaimed, almost mirroring Adam's thoughts.

"What is it?" Keith was the first to ask.

"The ship is starting a wormhole jump!" Coran exclaimed, typing more rapidly on the console.

"But only Allura can…" Adam started to say. Wait. The castle was acting with controlled intent, targeting and separating them all. And somehow it was getting Allura to open a wormhole. Almost like it had a mind of its own and was manipulating her. But as far as Adam knew, there was no artificial intelligence on the ship that could…. Oh no! "Let's go!" Adam called out to the group, finally realizing what was going on. He ran toward the bridge, the others following close behind.

 **VVVVVVVV**

As Adam, Coran, and the paladins filed onto the control bridge, they could see Allura at her pedestal, guiding them through the wormhole. But even more alarming than that, was the giant sun that was waiting on the other side just in front of them.

"Allura, what's going on?" Shiro called out to her, finally haven gotten his voice back.

Allura looked over her shoulder and smiled at them gleefully, "We're going to Altea. We're going home. My father is taking us."

Well that was disturbing. Adam ran towards her, but as soon as his hand made contact with the beam of light that surrounded her, he was shocked and sent reeling back. A holographic image of King Alfor appeared in front of Allura, staring them down and guarding her.

"Stay away from my daughter!" he ordered.

"What!?" Hunk was bewildered, as was the rest of the room.

"Allura, wake up!" Shiro yelled, desperately trying to get her to realize what was going on around them.

"The crystal Sendak put in the castle must have corrupted King Alfor's artificial intelligence. It's taking over!" Coran exclaimed with panic. He ran over to the control console to try and do something, but he was locked out of all the systems.

So it was just like Adam thought. The A.I. of Allura's father was corrupted and using holograms and tricks to separate them and manipulate his daughter into killing them all. That's why the malfunctions acted with so much intent and control. It was trying to get them out of the way so it could carry out its plan and drive them straight into the sun.

Pidge ran over to one of the computer consoles on the far side of the bridge. She worked hurriedly, apparently having figured out how to operate the systems since Adam was last conscious. "That star we're headed to is about to go supernova!" she exclaimed.

Shit. This was even worse than they thought. Driving straight into the sun gave them very little time. But one that was about to explode? Even less so.

"Father, I can see Altea," Allura said dreamily, reaching out toward the burning sun with her hand.

Coran stood out in front of her, hoping to get through, "Allura! Allura, wake up! What you're seeing isn't real."

Allura looked to her side where her father was handing her a small flower. She took it gratefully, "The juniberries, the most exquisite flower of all."

"Allura, please! You've got to listen to me!" Coran pleaded.

Allura looked perplexed for a moment, looking over at him. Was Coran getting through to her?

She looked over at her father once again, "Is this real?" She was far more into this illusion than they thought. Not only was she seeing things, but she had been convinced that the illusions around her were genuine. It was like she was in a state of hypnosis.

"Of course it is real, Daughter," He replied soothingly, "That flower you're touching is real."

"But where is the fragrance of the sweet juniberries?" Coran asked seriously. He knew the capabilities of the A.I. and the holographic projections, and there was no way it could duplicate the smell.

Allura leaned forward and sniffed the fake flower, her eyes going wide with realization, "Huh?" She looked up, the illusion breaking down right in front of her as she snapped out of it, "That's not Altea."

"When that star goes supernova, it will destroy the entire system. Allura, you must reset the course and get us out of here!" Pidge informed her.

Allura placed her hands on the panels to open a wormhole, but she was suddenly shocked and thrown off the pedestal. She quickly got up to her feet, looking at her father now standing at the center of the beam of light that protected the wormhole generator.

She looked up at her father imploringly, "Father, please, I beg you to turn this ship around. If we don't do it soon, we will all perish!"

"I know. That is my intention," the projection spoke matter-of-factly.

"What? Why?" Allura took a step back, horrified at what the image of her father was saying.

"Don't you see, dear daughter? Zarkon can never be defeated. He's been ruling for ten thousand years."

"But we must continue to fight!" She cried defiantly.

"Fight for what? It is all over for Altea. You don't have to live a lifetime of war. You can be with me and the rest of your people," Alfor said, trying to appeal to her.

Allura kept on, steeling her resolve, "Father, please! The paladins and I can still stop Zarkon! Somewhere in there, you must want that to happen." She couldn't just give up, otherwise what was the loss of her people even for?

Alfor's image flickered, turning into a bluish hue and speaking with a more alarmed tone of voice, "Allura, my A.I. has been corrupted. You must disconnect my power source," the image flickered again, turning back to a reddish projection "We can stroll across the Blossom Canyon every morning, just like we used to. Remember how much you loved that?"

Allura nodded, that little break in Alfor's A.I. telling her all she needed to know. Her father was still in there, and she needed to stop him, "I remember. I'll see you soon, Father," she turned away from him and towards her team, "I've got to get into the A.I. chamber to disconnect my father's power source manually."

"But that means losing King Alfor forever!" Coran told her.

"I'm going with you," Adam insisted.

Allura nodded at him in appreciation. She faced the others and gave them their orders, "Paladins, get to your Lions! I need you to slow the Castle's descent into the star."

"But how will we get out of the castle?" Hunk asked.

"I can try to override the system to open the hangars," Coran offered, running back to the control console.

Everyone ran off to where they needed to go without further argument. Shiro and the others got in their lions and started pushing from the outside with as much force as they could generate, slowing the castle's approach. Adam followed after Allura, toward the A.I. control hub.

They approached the door, and Allura pressed the panel. Unsurprisingly, it did not open.

"I got this," Adam stepped forward, grasping at the seam of the door with his robotic hand, "time to see what this baby can do," Adam exclaimed, pulling at the door as hard as he can. The door barely budged, slowing opening as he pried and pulled as hard as he could. He used his human hand to pull his body toward the edge of the door to generate more force.

Once he got enough of a crack going, Allura grabbed the other side to help him pull it open. As soon as it was big enough for Allura to squeeze through, Adam pushed out his foot and pressed it against the door to help him hold it open.

"Go! I got this," he yelled.

Allura stepped over his leg and slid through the door with just barely enough space. Once she was clear, Adam pulled away from the door as quick as he could, diving to the ground so it wouldn't crush him as it slammed shut.

"Good luck," Adam whispered in a silent prayer of strength. Adam was all too familiar with loss, and now Allura would have to give up the last piece of her father to save them all.

Allura slowly walked toward the center of the room. Everything was pitch black, with small orbs of light drifting around her. She knew going directly into the holographic chamber would be difficult, but she didn't expect this.

Alfor's image appeared right in front of her again, flickering back and forth between blue and red, "Don't do this!" he pleaded, "You must," he then insisted.

"All my memories, all my knowledge will be lost forever!" the corrupted version begged her.

"Do it, Allura. If you are to live, we must say goodbye," the true voice of her father urging her on.

"I'm sorry about this, Father," whispered to him. She walked through his hologram, toward the center of the room, the flickers of light zooming past her and trying to distract and blind her from where she was going. She kept going, trying not to rely on her sight to guide her.

As she continued moving forward, a small projection of the past appeared in one of the lights before her, making her hesitate. It was her father, younger and carrying Allura on his back when she was only a small child. Memories of their happy past together blocked her path, trying to stop her from going on.

"This is not real. This is all in the past," Allura insisted, feeling the emotions swell within her. She needed to keep going. No matter how much she wanted to cry.

She kept walking, pushing through the heartache and pain. And as she reached the center, she saw the most heartbreaking memory of all. A picture of her father, holding her as a baby. The love and adoration on his face, that feeling of warmth and safety, she would never be able to experience it again. Tears ran down her face, unable to contain the grief it caused her.

The image of her father appeared before her one more time, his voice corrupted and calm, "You don't have to fight, Allura. You don't have to make this sacrifice."

She looked at him, and closed her eyes, diving forward and wrapping her arms around him, "Goodbye, Father."

Alfor smiled, and spoke, the voice of her real father coming out clear as day, "Goodbye, Allura."

She squeezed him tight, and the sound and feeling of breaking glass echoed throughout the room. The hologram broke down around her, and she let go. She stood there, alone in an empty room with a broken core, surrounded by broken glass.

 **VVVVVVVV**

An alarm sounded and Coran looked up, seeing the systems begin to restore themselves, "She did it," Coran said sympathetically, knowing she must be in pain.

He began to restart and restore control, Adam and Allura quickly joining him on the bridge. Allura got into position and called out to the paladins, "Paladins, get to your hangars. We're getting out of here."

The second all the lions were back in the castle Allura opened up a wormhole and pushed the castle through, just barely missing the supernova that would have killed them all.

They came through the other side, safe, but not undamaged. Shiro's PTSD attack had caused some tension between him and Adam, despite the fact that they were getting along better. That would just have to be something they dealt with. Keith and Lance were nearly killed, and Lance wouldn't stop complaining about it. But worst of all, Allura lost the last connection to her father she ever had.

"I'm so sorry about your father, Princess," Shiro said, offering his condolences.

"We all are," Keith agreed.

"Thank you," smiled softly, and speaking with resolution to hide the pain behind her eyes, "But that was not my father. The real King Alfor was a great man and a great father. He may not be here with us anymore, but his dream lives on through all of us, and his legacy is Voltron."

Her words were inspirational, showcasing her strength and resolve. It set the paladins at ease a little, knowing that she would be strong enough to move on and help them keep fighting. But Adam could see it. He could see how much it hurt, and he completely understood.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Allura sat alone in the lounge, needing a moment alone with her thoughts. The others offered to take her back to her room, but she insisted that she was fine. She couldn't exactly sleep right now if she wanted to anyway. All she needed was a moment alone with her thoughts.

"Allura."

The sound of another's voice startled her, causing her to look up toward the hallway entrance, "Oh, Adam. I didn't hear you come in."

Adam strolled over to the other couch and sat down, "Sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt. I just wanted to check on you."

"That's very kind of you, but unnecessary," Allura insisted, standing to her feet and facing away from him, arms crossed.

She was trying to seem nonchalant, but it was obvious she was trying to hide her real feelings. Maybe she thought it was a sign of weakness or would undermine her authority if she let him see her in a vulnerable state. But what she didn't realize was that how much her and Adam had in common.

"Well if you ask me, I think you could use someone to talk to right about now," Adam told her, not letting up.

She turned to look him in the eye, "I'm alright Adam. We all must be willing to make sacrifices for the sake of the universe," she insisted, coming to accept her father's philosophy, at least in part. Sacrifices would have to be made, but standing together would help them survive just as it did today. That would have to be good enough.

Adam leaned forward in his seat, eyeing her intently, "It's okay to feel something," he remarked, seeing how much she was trying to withhold her emotions.

Allura turned away from him again, unnerved by his gaze. It was like he could see right through her, "That would imply I lost something."

"Didn't you?"

"Nothing that I haven't lost already," she reasoned out.

But that didn't mean it couldn't still hurt. Having lost before doesn't make the pain of loss go away. And even if it wasn't her real father, it was a connection to him that most people don't even get. Convincing herself that she had already lost him before this wasn't right.

"I don't think that's true," Adam told her. She needed to understand, and to feel. It would serve her better in the long run.

"Huh?"

Adam rose to his feet and walked over to talk to her face to face, "You mourned the loss of your planet and your people, sure. But I don't think you fully came to terms with the loss of your father. Having that projection of him, his memories, his presence; I think it made it easier. You may have known that he was gone, but you didn't have to let go right away."

Allura lowered her head, "Yes… I suppose that's true. But he's gone for good now. I must accept that," her voice was somber and resigned.

Adam reached out with his human hand, placing it comfortingly on the side of her arm, "I am sorry Allura. I know what it's like to lose the most important person in your life."

Allura looked up at him, realizing that Adam understood her grief more than she realized.

She placed her hand over his, "We all must endure, and make sacrifices for the sake of the universe."

"Kinda sucks, doesn't it?" He said a little playfully, smiling out of the corner of his mouth.

Allura laughed a breathy scoff, "Yes, I suppose it does… suck"

Hearing Allura speak so informally was strange, and a little funny. They chuckled softly, finding comfort in each other's company and sympathy. They moved to sit down on the couch together.

"Why don't you tell me about your father?" Adam offered.

"What for?"

"Well, you know the old saying, no one is ever really gone as long as you remember them and keep them in your heart," Adam said, feeling like it was okay to be a little bit sappy. Allura was probably the one person that wouldn't mind.

"I don't believe I've heard of that before," she replied a little perplexed.

"Sorry. Must be an Earth thing," he apologized, forgetting that not all forms of thought are universal.

Allura shook her head, "It's a lovely sentiment. I think I'd like to try it."

"So why don't you share some stories then? And then for a little while, your father won't really be gone," Adam smiled softly at her.

Allura smiled back at him, teary eyed and grateful, "On one condition," she declared.

"What?"

"You let me return the favor, and help you bring back the ones you've lost."

Adam was a little surprised, but thankful. He nodded, "Deal."

Allura leaned against his shoulder. They sat there, sharing stories about their loved ones all through the night. Finding comfort in the comradery of loss and sympathy, they both felt a little bit better.


	10. The Painful Truth

**Chapter 9: The Painful Truth**

Adam sat on the couch of the apartment he shared with his brother, sulking as he watched Aiden working on his laptop as he sat across from him. It was thanks to Aiden's work and position at the Garrison that they were able to live in a nice place like this. Aiden had been a prodigy when they were younger, and in exchange for his recruitment, the Garrison provided a place for them both to live so they could stay together. For as long as he could remember, Aiden had promised him that he would always look out for him. But now that promise was at risk of being broken.

"Do you really have to go?" Adam asked, pouting and slumped into his seat.

Aiden didn't take his eyes of the computer, but his expression brightened as he kept typing, "It's an amazing new discovery. We're flying out to the planet, taking an initial recon, and flying right back. We'll only be gone for awhile."

"You're going to be gone for a year," Adam spat at him, not appreciating how his brother was underexaggerating the timeframe he would have to leave him behind.

Hearing his little brother's spiteful tone spurred Aiden to look up at him, "That's not as long as you think," he assured him.

Adam looked away, not wanting to meet his brother's gaze as he spoke honestly, "But we've always been together. We've never been apart for more than a week. What am I supposed to do while you're gone?"

Aiden got up from his seat, walking over to Adam and crouching down in front of him so he could face him at his level. He figured Adam would be upset by this. Aiden wasn't too thrilled to be leaving his only brother behind either, but this was an opportunity he didn't want to pass up.

"You're going to keep going to school, and you're going to be the new man of the house. I know you can do it. What are you, 12? 13?" Aiden asked, sneering playfully at him as he asked his age.

"I'm 15," Adam said flatly, correcting his brother despite knowing that he was just patronizing him.

"Wow, 15 already? My baby bro is getting so big," Aiden teased, ruffling Adam's hair.

Adam pushed his hand off, "Stop teasing Aiden. I'm being serious."

How could his brother be making jokes at a time like this? This was serious. He was talking about leaving him behind! How could he just do that? They were family, and all they ever had was each other. He couldn't understand how Aiden could disregard that so lightly.

Aiden sighed softly, wanting to be as supportive and encouraging as he could, despite knowing how hard this was on his little brother, "So am I. I was about your age when I got us out of the orphanage and started taking care of both of us. So I know you can look after yourself while I'm gone, because you are so much more talented than I was. You're smart, mature, and Iverson even agreed to come check on you every week to make sure you have plenty of food and anything else you might need."

"I don't care about any of that. I don't want you to go," Adam shrugged off his brother's words and got off the couch, walking past him towards his own room.

"You really want me to stay?" Aiden asked, looking on as his brother tried to run away from this emotionally serious situation.

The hint of disappointment in his brother's voice made Adam stop, turning around and yelling at him, "Yes! Why do you have to go into stupid space anyway!?" He knew he probably shouldn't be yelling at his older brother like this, but he just felt so uncontrollably and unreasonably angry. Stupid hormones. Stupid Aiden. Why did he think it was okay to just up and leave? How could he not understand this!?

"Because it's my dream," Aiden answered simply, smiling sympathetically at him. He got up and sat down on the couch where Adam had been sitting, calm but serious, "It's what I've always wanted. When we were just two kids alone in the orphanage, I'd stare up at the night sky dreaming of what was out there. Being able to travel among the stars, having the chance to discover new planets and discover new phenomena. Just the thought of it lit a fire in deep inside of me. It brought me comfort during those rough nights."

Adam felt the tension leave his body, relaxing at the sincerity of his brother's words. He can't remember the last time Aiden told him about anything he wanted for himself, or ever at all really.

"You never told me that," Adam's body language drooped a bit, feeling guilty for not knowing about his own brother's dream or interests.

Aiden shook his head, silently telling him it was something he never needed to worry about. He was almost a decade younger than him, and Aiden didn't want to trouble him with things like that. He just wanted Adam to focus on being a kid, "Everything I did, it was always for both of us, or for your benefit. I took that position at the Garrison to provide for us, and to make sure we could stay together. So you could have a home to grow up in, and we could be a family. A normal life that I never got the chance to have. I only ever wanted the best for you. But this? This is the first time I've wanted something just for myself."

"Really…?" Adam asked, his heart clenching in his chest as the weight of his own selfishness came crashing down on him.

"Yeah. I want this, more than anything," Aiden got up and walked over to him, towering over Adam as he rested a hand on his head, "But if you really don't want me to go, then I'll stay. I'll turn down the mission and stay a pilot here on Earth. If it means that much to you, I won't go. That's how much I love you."

Adam looked up at his brother's face, seeing the smile that graced his features, and the weariness in his eyes. He had meant every word. Adam could see it. He would stay here on Earth if he asked him to, and he would do it all with that same damn smile on his face. But that look in his eyes… Adam could tell that it would kill him a little inside to not be able to go. He would give up on his dream and deal with the disappointment, all for the sake of his little brother. That…. That wasn't fair.

Adam felt a wave of emotions crash down on him. He wasn't sure if it was the guilt, or just teenage hormones that made him feel so strongly, but he felt like he was going to cry. He rushed forward and hugged his brother tightly, pressing his face against his chest and surprising him, "You should go…." He whimpered out.

"Are you sure?" Aiden asked, uncertain if he should take that as confirmation given Adam's emotional state.

Adam nodded, backing away and wiping the moisture from his eyes, "I'm sorry for acting like a selfish brat. You've done so much for me already. You should be able to do what you want to do."

Aiden smiled, both proud and delighted, the glimmer returning to his eyes, "It's okay to be selfish sometimes, but you're not a selfish brat. You just want us to stay together, and that's different than being selfish for your own satisfaction. That's something you'll learn. Just remember to consider other people's feelings when you are selfish."

Aiden had spent so much of his life taking care of his brother, making choices with him in mind. He never really felt like his own person. But when the chance to be a pilot on an exciting new space mission came his way, he felt more alive than he ever thought he could. He loved his brother with all his heart, but he also wanted to take this chance to be his own man and learn more about himself. It was selfish on his account, but he would never do anything that would break his brother's heart. That was the difference that he hoped his brother would understand.

"I will. Which is why I want you to go. You've always taken care of me. You should be able to do something for yourself," Adam crossed his arms, standing as tall and firm as he could, "I'll be okay. I'll be the man of the house and take care of things while you're gone."

"Well look at you. My little brother is all grown up," Aiden cooed.

"Stop patronizing me," Adam responded flatly.

"What? I would never!" Aiden pretended to be offended before laughing and tousling Adam's hair once again.

"Ugh, stop that!" Adam whined, pushing his brother's damn hand off of him.

Aiden stood up straight, reaching under his shirt and pulling off a necklace with two small metal tags on them, "Here. Why don't you hang on to these for me until I get back."

He hung it around Adam's neck. Adam looked down curiously, seeing the metal plates with his brother's military profile imprinted on them, "Your dog tags?"

"Yeah. Keep them with you, and you'll never be alone."

"But I will be alone. You'll be in space," Adam said flatly, focusing on the logical aspect instead of reading into the sentimentality of his brother's gesture.

Aiden sighed, a little disappointed, "Really? You couldn't let me have this moment?"

"Well there's a limit to how much sap I can take," Adam quipped sarcastically.

"Okay, when I get back, we're going to work on that sass mouth of yours," his brother warned.

"Well you better hurry back then," Adam smirked smugly.

"I will, I promise. And take care of yourself while I'm gone, okay?"

"What, you think I'm gonna let myself starve?" Adam quipped again.

"Okay, I'm serious about that sass of yours."

Adam hugged his brother once again, this time more gently, "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too. I'll be home as soon as I can," Aiden said, patting his back as he hugged him.

Right now Adam only came up to his chest, an average height for a 15-year-old. How tall would he be the next time he saw him? The idea made him regret the time he would miss with his brother, but being apart for a little while would be good for both of them. Aiden needed a chance to discover who he really was as a person, and Adam deserved the opportunity to stand on his own and mature a little bit as an individual without his big brother getting in the way. That thought comforted him, and it made him a little excited. He couldn't wait to see what kind of people they would grow into when they reunited.

"What's the name of the planet anyway?" Adam asked, pulling away from his older brother.

Aiden smiled, happy to share the information of his dream mission, "We'll be taking the Voyager 7 on a recon mission all the way to Kerberos," a journey that would change everything.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Lance walked into the training room, seeing Keith sitting cross legged on the ground just outside the bounds of the battlefield. He sat there quietly, almost meditative as he watched Adam and Shiro spar with each other. Lance sat next to him, curious on how two of the most infamous officers in the Garrison fought. They weren't wearing their paladin armor for some reason, but Lance had to figure this was how they were used to training together.

Shiro charged at Adam, throwing his weight into his punch as he leaped up into the air. Adam quickly side stepped it, grabbing Shiro's metal arm and using the force of Shiro's leap to throw him across the room. Lance watched intently, expecting to see him crash into the ground, but Shiro merely dive rolled forward and hopped back onto his feet as quickly as he went down. He turned around, Adam hot on his heels throwing his own punch with his new arm. Shiro held up his own, their arms clashing with a metallic clang. Their put their weight and strength into their collided arms, pushing against on another as they stared each other down.

"Not bad," Shiro smirked, impressed at how quickly Adam had adapted to combat with his new arm.

"Better than yours," Adam sneered. He had to admit, this was a lot of fun. It was just like the old days when they used to spar, and getting to smack Shiro around a bit was strangely therapeutic.

"We'll see about that!" Shiro challenged, pushing forward with all his might and pushing Adam off of him. It was clear he was having as much fun as Adam was, but that didn't stop him from giving the fight everything he had.

Shiro dropped to the ground and tried to sweep Adam's legs out from under him, which he easily avoided with a backflip. Shiro ran up and spun on his heels to deliver a spin kick to his side. Adam held up his metallic arm, blocking the strike and holding Shiro's leg in place.

"Come on. You can go harder than that!" Adam taunted.

"Where have I heard that before?" Shiro snickered in response.

"Only because you can't perform unless someone tells you what to do!" Adam yelled, pulling back on Shiro's leg to make him drop to the floor. Shiro managed to catch himself in a pushup position before he hit the ground, using his free leg to kick at Adam's heel. Adam stumbled back and let him go, letting Shiro get back up onto his feet in a crouched position.

Shiro looked over his shoulder smugly, "So you admit to being bossy?"

"Shut up and fight!" Adam responded, feeling very competitive right now.

"That's what I thought!"

They ran at each other, engaging in a dance of strikes and dodges. It was hard to say who had the advantage. Shiro seemed liked he would be naturally stronger, but Adam was holding his own against him just fine. And while Adam came across as the more agile one, Shiro was surprisingly just as fast and acrobatic. They could probably fight like this for hours without a winner.

"How long have they been like that?" Lance asked Keith, not taking his eyes off the two men fighting.

"They've been training all morning," Keith responded.

"I meant the bantering. Seriously, why don't they just get a room?" Lance quipped.

"Hmm," Keith grumbled in response, much more interested in the fight than the personal drama or Lance's questions.

"What does that mean?" Lance asked, turning his attention towards the young man. His noncommittal answer piqued his interest and sounded suspicious. Almost like he couldn't answer. Or maybe he didn't want to answer. He did room in the same hallway as Shiro and Adam, so did that mean… he heard something? "Wait… did they… HAVE SEX IN THE CASTLE!?"

Keith looked at him like he was a mad man. His uproarious shout also drew Adam and Shiro's attention. Adam looked over at him, stumbling and losing his footing as he fell to the ground. Shiro was stunned as well, but he regained his focus much faster and used the distraction to his advantage. He lept forward, striking down at Adam with his robotic hand.

"Shit!" Adam rolled over onto his back trying to get out of the way as fast as he could, but it was too late.

"You're done!" Shiro shouted, a hint of glee in his voice as he struck down at him.

Adam held up his arms in defense, closing his eyes and bracing himself. Suddenly he felt a warm sensation pulse through his prosthetic as an indescribable rush of energy shot out of his arm and formed a dome-like shield in front of him.

The second Shiro's arm made contact with the energy shield, the force repelled him and sent him flying backwards and crashing into the ground, "Ahh!"

"Shiro!" Keith jumped up onto his feet and ran towards him, Lance following after.

After hearing Shiro cry out, Adam opened his eyes to see Shiro hitting the ground hard just as an orange dome in front of his face dissipated back into his arm. The orange seams of his arm were glowing bright with energy, much in the same way Shiro's hand would glow purple when it was charged up to attack. But Adam didn't care about that right now.

"Takashi!" Adam got up and ran towards Shiro, joining Keith and Lance at his side. He reached out toward him with his left hand, stopping short and taking a step back. It was probably better if he just keep his distance for now. Keith crouched down next to Shiro, instinctively staying by his side to help him up.

Shiro sat up, rubbing the side of his head to shake off the daze from being flung across the room, "I'm alright. What was that?"

"Yeah! That was totally awesome!" Lance exclaimed, fists pumped up in excitement as he looked at Adam. His excited expression was met with one of disdainful judgement. He looked over at Keith and saw that he had the exact same expression. Lance jumped back, scratching the back of his head, "Uh, I mean… what was that?"

Adam looked down at his hand, "I'm not sure."

"It looked like a particle barrier came out of your arm," Keith remarked. Despite Lance's outburst, he had seen the small shield come out of Adam's arm, forming just like the particle barrier around the castle did. It was only large enough to block Shiro's attack, but maybe he could make it larger, or even dome his whole body if he could figure out how it worked.

"Coran did say that he no idea what my arm was capable of. I guess this must be it," Adam remarked, "I don't even know how I did it. It didn't activate the whole time we were sparring, but then it just suddenly shot out."

"It might've been instinct. The same thing happened to me when I first used my arm," Shiro said, "You were reacting to my attack when it activated."

"I guess I'll need to practice doing it on my own. I wonder if my arm can do anything else…"

He would need to tell Coran about this later. He would need help learning to activate it and just how durable it really was. It could hold up against one of Shiro's strikes, so that suggested incredible durability. The shields they used in training couldn't even hold up to his arm, which is partly why they never brought shields into battle since the Galra's weapons had advanced so significantly. Even the paladin armor could withstand more damage than the shields could.

Lance piped up once again, regaining his earlier enthusiasm, "That's so rad! Shiro's arm can cut through almost anything, and you got an impenetrable shield! You're like the perfect dynamic duo!"

"Yeah. They can get matching unitards, and maybe wear some capes," Keith replied dryly, standing to his feet and helping Shiro up as well.

Adam crossed his arms, "Keith don't be ridiculous. Capes are so inconvenient," he looked over at Shiro out of the corner of his eye, smirking, "Besides, some of our combat suits in the Garrison are already skintight. Right Takashi?"

Shiro's brow twitched in irritation, raising his voice slightly and holding up a finger, "One time! I forgot to wear the underarmor one time!"

Adam giggled, ignoring him and looking at Lance and Keith, "It left very little to the imagination. Everyone could see his…"

"Adam!" Shiro shouted to cut him off, his face starting to flush with embarrassment.

"Okay, I'm leaving," Keith said flatly, turning around and walking off.

"Yeah… me too," Lance agreed, following Keith out. He enjoyed the banter and drama, but he would have felt awkward being left alone with the two decorated Garrison soldiers.

"Why did you have to yell?" Keith scolded as they walked together.

"I was surprised! When you didn't answer I thought you heard them having sex in one of their rooms or something."

"No! The rooms on the castle are soundproof. I just didn't care to answer because I was focused on the fight, and, well…" Keith trailed off.

"Well, what?" Lance asked, noticing how Keith suddenly started to act more uncomfortable.

"They used to have a room back on Earth…" Keith cringed as he spoke.

"Oh god. You totally walked in on them, didn't you!?" Lance shouted, half out of shock, and half out of interest. It was good gossip, and he totally had to hear this story that traumatized the usually stone-faced Keith.

"I don't want to talk about it," Keith insisted.

"You can't leave me hanging like that! Tell me!" Lace shook his shoulders as they walked, bouncing on his toes behind him. They left the training room, Lance clamoring on and begging for details while Keith remained silent, not wanting to relive that memory.

Adam and Shiro watched them leave, listening in on their conversation. Adam turned to Shiro accusingly, "It's your fault he's traumatized."

"What!? How is it my fault?"

"You're the one who forgot to lock the door that one time!"

"That was you!" Shiro corrected.

Adam smirked, "I know. I just like blaming you for stuff."

Shiro sighed, "Why do you have to be such a pain in the ass sometimes?"

"Takashi, that's like asking why a fish needs to live in water," Adam answered, as if Shiro had just asked the stupidest question in the world. He walked off the training floor and leaned back against the wall, letting his body slump down to the ground to rest.

Shiro followed and leaned against the wall next to him, staying standing. He reached under his collar, adjusting something that made a light clinking sound. The sound grabbed Adam's attention and he looked up at him curiously.

"So, you're still wearing those?" Adam replied, realizing what it was.

Shiro looked confused for a moment before pulling out the metallic dog tags Adam had given to him back on Earth, "Well you did entrust them to me. If I lost them, you'd never let me live it down."

"Haha. You know me so well," Adam was a little pleased at that. Even though one of the tags had Shiro's name on it, he still treated it like both tags belonged to Adam. He couldn't help but feel a little flutter in his chest at the notion.

"I'd like to think so," Shiro responded softly, looking down at Adam with an unreadable, but gentle expression, "How come you never got rid of my dog tags? The way I left… I wouldn't have blamed you if you did."

Adam sighed, crossing his arms across his knees and resting his head on them, "Believe me, I wanted to. When I woke up that morning and saw that you had left without saying a word, I wanted to chuck them straight in the trash."

"Why didn't you?" Shiro asked, wanting to know what kept Adam holding on, even when Shiro had been so cruel to him.

"I told you that. Holding onto pain is just part of who I am," Adam replied, mirroring the words he had told Shiro when they first reunited.

He looked at Adam intently, examining his face for a moment before asking, "What's the real reason?"

Adam looked up at Shiro, meeting his knowing gaze with a stunned expression. Why did he have to be so good at seeing through him _? Is my heart just an open book for you to read?_ He thought. If he was so good at it, why couldn't he see how Adam still felt about him?

He composed himself, and looked away again, leaning back against the wall and brooding, "It felt too much like moving on," Adam admitted, fidgeting with his necklace as it softly clinked against his metallic fingers.

"I wanted you to move on without me, you know?" Shiro finally admitted to him, "What I did… You deserved better."

Adam scoffed, "Well I hate to break it to you Takashi, but you don't get to make those decisions by yourself," he said, his voice a little fierce. He always suspected that maybe Shiro was trying to push him away back then, and that simple admission all but confirmed it. But… that didn't absolve Adam of the selfish things he did either. Adam's expression became remorseful, remembering why he held onto Shiro's dog tags despite everything he had known at the time, "No matter how bad things were between us, or how they are now… you're a part of me. I don't ever want to let you go. I've lost too many people in my life, and I don't want to lose anymore…. I don't want to lose you."

Adam spoke with such genuine sincerity, that it almost seemed like he was about to cry. But he didn't. He was simply speaking from his heart, and Shiro could feel that. Looking into Adam's eyes, he felt uncomfortable. He hung his head in shame, burdened by the weight of his own selfish actions back then. He didn't want to be a burden on Adam's life with his disease, so he intentionally hurt him by going on the mission to Kerberos, hoping that Adam would feel so betrayed that he would break up with him and move on to something better. Sure, it was Shiro's dream to go to space, but he didn't have to go on the very mission that Adam's brother disappeared on. He just thought that extra push would give Adam every reason to leave him behind, because despite how much he wanted to free Adam, he loved him too much to break up with him himself. He needed Adam to hate him in order for him to let go. Or maybe…. maybe he was just a coward, and that was the excuse he told himself.

But Adam, as stubborn as he was, didn't let go. He kept fighting for Shiro, terrified that he would share his brother's fate. They, fought, cried, and clashed over it, again and again. But Adam never let go. Right up until that very last night on Earth, he was by his side, loving him and begging him to return. Even when Adam broke up with him, it was only because he was cornered and forced into a situation that made him emotionally distressed, not because he wanted to. And in those moments, Shiro realized just how much of a terrible person he really was.

"I'm sorry I caused you so much pain," Shiro said, his voice full of regret. Things could have been so much simpler if he had never gotten involved in Adam's life. If he had just listened to him back then, and stayed away, neither of them would have to suffer like this.

Adam shook his head, smiling sadly, "Don't be sorry. We both made mistakes. We just need to move on and forget the past."

"Bury it?" Shiro inferred, seeing how Adam was sidestepping the conversation.

"Bury it," Adam nodded, "I think it's for the best."

He was right. Constantly reflecting on their past, and their relationship was causing them so much pain and anxiety. They were at their most comfortable around each other, but they were also at their most tense. And considering what Shiro had done, he didn't feel like he deserved Adam's forgiveness. The idea of telling him what he had done, and having the love of his life hate him for it was horrifying to think about. But, it was even scarier to think of telling him everything and being forgiven anyway. Adam deserved better than that. Better than him. He had broken Adam's heart, made him suffer, and now withholding the truth was making Adam blame himself for what happened to them a year ago. Even Keith was blaming Adam before Shiro returned and convinced him that they were both at fault. But in reality, Shiro was the sole cause. Out of his own desire to spare Adam and free him from a life of hardship, taking care of his withering body, he had agreed to take the one mission he knew Adam would hate him for.

If only it had been that simple. Now here they were, reunited again and pining for one another. But that was a temptation Shiro needed to remind himself not to give in to. When he tried to kiss Adam the other day during his panic attack, it was a moment of weakness, and one he couldn't repeat ever again. It was best to take Adam's advice and just forget everything from back then, the breakup, the heartache, and most importantly, the truth. If Adam ever found out about everything Shiro had done, it would just complicate things, and Adam was clearly trying to move on past that. They both needed to. And as much as Shiro loved him, he couldn't get back together with him… he shouldn't. It wouldn't be fair to either of them. Adam shouldn't have to settle for a relationship that hurt him so badly, and Shiro didn't deserve the grace of his love's forgiveness. It was a fool's notion. Adam deserved better back then, and so much more now.

"I suppose you're right," Shiro agreed, watching Adam fidget with his ring, "we should just move on and…"

"Forget," Adam finished for him, almost as if he needed to convince himself of it as well.

"Yeah..." Shiro sighed, "I see you got your ring back," he pointed out, wanting to move the conversation past this emotional intensity.

Adam let it fall against his chest and smiled, "Oh, yeah. Lance gave it back to me. He's a sweet kid. He held onto it the entire time I was recovering."

"It must be pretty important to you," Shiro reasoned out, staring at him with a knowing look.

"Well, I guess you could say it's a part of me too," Adam admitted, his cheeks turning pink as he thought about it. He cleared his throat and got up on his feet, walking past Shiro to leave the training floor, "Come on. Let's go check on the others and see what they're working on."

"Right. Okay," Shiro followed him behind.

Shiro could see it. The way Adam still felt about him. He wasn't blind, but it wasn't right either. He needed to steel his conviction, and never let Adam know about his own feelings. So then one day, he could move on and find someone that didn't hurt him the way Shiro had. That would be the best thing for him. Shiro would resign himself to just being his friend, so that he could give him the life he always deserved. He would fight to save the universe, and protect Adam with everything he had, even if it cost him his life. That was the only way he could make amends. He would do all of this to atone for the pain he had put him through. But more importantly, he would do all this for the man he still loved with all of his heart.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Adam and Shiro shuffled onto the main deck, where Allura, Coran, and Pidge were busy working on the information Coran's device had managed to download from Sendak's memories before he was jettisoned from the ship. Keith and Lance were already there checking in on them as well, but Hunk was nowhere to be seen. More than likely he was in the kitchen working on cooking lunch for everyone. Keith was with Pidge at one of the side terminals, and Lance was sticking close to Allura's side at the main control panel, being careful not to get too far into her space.

"Somewhere inside Sendak's memories we should be able to find the information that gives us the key to take down Zarkon," Allura remarked, watching Coran work on the computer console.

"Once we learn all his weaknesses, we can drive up to his front door and challenge him to a fight! Winner gets the universe," Lance said, puffing up his chest. He was treating the fate of the universe like it was some kind of bar brawl that you'd make a bet on. Adam merely shook his head. Apparently the seriousness of this whole situation hadn't dawned on Lance yet, or maybe he was always this naturally vivacious?

Shiro walked over to join Keith and Pidge, "Anything good yet, Pidge?"

It was a little surprising to see Keith and Pidge getting along so easily. They didn't seem compatible, but Shiro did have a connection to both of them. Maybe there was some common ground there.

"We were only able to salvage bits and pieces from what Coran's device managed to download," she told him.

"Because somebody ejected our primary source of information into deep space," Adam said pointedly, coming up behind Shiro.

Shiro scowled at him, "I was having a traumatic hallucination."

"I know. Just don't leave out the good bits," Adam said nonchalantly, prompting Shiro to roll his eyes.

Keith just sighed, choosing to ignore Adam's comments, "We need something to work with. Right now, we don't even have a decent map of the empire."

"Who needs a map?" Lance joined in, listening in on their conversation from across the room, "After 10,000 years of conquering, I could probably fire my bayard at like any random point in space and hit a Galra ship."

"We have to be more nuanced than that," Adam said. Breaking down the empire bit by bit was good and all, but hitting pointless targets with no advantage would just leave them tired and weak with nothing to show for it.

Shiro spoke up, taking charge and formulating an ideal plan, "If we could just find troop locations or supply routes, small targets we could hit-and-run, then we could start to free planets one by one."

"Boring. I want the big kaboom," Lance insisted.

Shiro shook his head, "Zarkon's been building his empire for 10,000 years. We're not going to tear it down overnight with five inexperienced pilots and a support ship with three people. Hitting him where he lives would be a mistake."

"He's right Lance," Adam agreed, "Strategy is important here. Without allies or a visible weakness to target, they'd blow us out of the sky before we made any significant difference," with everything that had been going on, sometimes Adam forgot they were still inexperienced kids with no real combat or strategy experience. They all had potential, but they couldn't see the big picture quite yet.

"It'd be nice if you were serious like this more often," Shiro remarked at Adam, glad to have him agreeing with him for once.

Adam couldn't help but wink at him in response, "Only if you ask me pretty please."

"You had to say it didn't you?" Keith said accusingly toward Shiro. He had to know asking Adam to act serious would prompt him to do the opposite. Going against what Shiro said and frustrating him just seemed to give the guy meaning in his life.

Pidge cut in, bringing the conversation back on track as she discussed what she found, "Okay, I've cross-referenced Sendak's memories with the info I got from the downed ship back on Arus. Most of it was a garbled mess, but one thing kept repeating, something called a 'Universal Station.'"

"Universal Station? Like, the kind of station that controls the entire universe?" Lance asked.

"You understand how that sounds right?" Adam raised an eyebrow at him. If only things were so easy. Pushing a button to get rid of all their enemies would end this pretty fast, and they could all just go home. But on the other hand, if that actually existed, Adam and the rest of their rag tag team would already be dead.

"Well, we are translating it from Galra, so it could also be 'Galactic Hub,'" Pidge added. That made more sense considering the vast scope of space. A galactic hub sounded like a place where they could find potential information or supplies.

"Or 'Space Base'!" Lance yelled. Well, he wasn't wrong.

Coran was busy typing at the main console, activating the holographic galaxy map and entering the information Pidge deciphered, "I'm pulling up the location of your Universal Hub Station Base now."

The map scrolled across the stars before stopping and zooming in on an empty section of space. They all gathered around and stared at it, expecting something to show up on the hologram, but it remained empty.

"So... where is it?" Lance turned to Coran.

Coran scratched his head, double checking the computer terminal, "I don't know. Our long-range sensors are unable to find anything at those coordinates."

"Maybe Sendak remembered it wrong," Keith suggested.

"Or maybe we just stumbled across a top-secret base in his memories," Pidge offered.

It was possible. If the Galra were as powerful and advanced as they were made out to be, then they could easily have a secret base in the middle of deep space. And Sendak couldn't exactly fake his memories, no matter how hard he may have resisted the process. There had to be something there.

"Only one way to find out. Let's go take a look," Allura said, walking up to her podium and preparing to open up a wormhole. This was a chance to find out many things they still didn't know about their enemy. But if Adam had known what he was going to learn there, he would have told them to turn around leave it all alone.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Only moments after entering the wormhole, they found themselves on the other side of deep space. There were also several small planets and moons around them, but there didn't seem to be anything else in immediate view through the main deck windows.

"We should be close enough to get a good scan, but far enough away to avoid being noticed," Allura said, walking over to Coran and typing something on the console.

The holographic monitor popped up in the middle of the room, displaying a live image of some sort of space station. It was hovering between two planets, a steady stream of ships entering and leaving the station.

"There it is," Shiro said aloud, stepping toward the monitor to get a better look at the layout.

Coran spoke up, reading off the results of the scan, "It appears the gravitation between the two planets warps the electron emission spectrum enough to keep the planet off the deep space scanners."

"So you can only see it if you really know where to look," Pidge explained, heading off before Lance before he inevitably asked for a translation.

"This place must handle shipments from all over the Galra Empire," Shiro said, inferring its purpose based on what they knew.

"But If this is some big airport where shipments come and go, why is it hidden?" Pidge countered, bouncing ideas off Shiro.

"There must be more to this than we're seeing," he agreed, setting his hands on his hips. It was the pose he took when he was ready to take action.

It was a good question. What could be so valuable on this station that it needed to be hidden away? The Galra already controlled most of the known universe from what Allura told them, so why even go to the trouble of hiding anything? They could just have an open station with massive amounts of guards and soldiers posted at it if they were concerned with safety. No. This had to be something else.

"Then, we'd better go down to take a look. We'll need to enter here, the central control building," Allura said, walking up to the display of the space station and giving orders.

"I'm sorry, Princess, did you say 'we'?" Keith questioned, noticing the inclusion of herself in what was likely going to be an infiltration mission.

Allura's tone became defensive, sensing the hesitation in Keith's voice, "I'm going with you. I've traveled through the Galra transportation hubs many times with my father before the war began. I know more about them than any of you."

"Princess, I'd rather you stay here," Coran remarked.

Allura got a little more annoyed, crossing her arms and speaking fervently, "I'm a part of this fight against Zarkon as much as anyone. I'm going. Does anyone have a problem with that?"

Coran went silent, taking a step back and conceding to her decision. Lance pretended to whistle nonchalantly while Hunk shook his head rapidly, letting her know that they had no objections. Keith obviously didn't think it was the best idea, but he said nothing in protest. Pidge and Adam let her play out her little rant, not really bothered by her coming one way or the other.

"Fine. Suit up," Shiro said, deciding her experience would be more valuable than any potential liability bringing her would cause. Shiro walked off, the others following behind to get dressed in their gear. It was better to take action while they had the chance instead of just standing around arguing about it. That was something Allura could appreciate.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Once they were in gear, they all stood in the hangar bay, Shiro turning to them to bark out orders like usual, "We'll go in low, fast, and hopefully undetected. Coming around the dark side of the nearest planet should keep them from getting a visual on us. Using the green lion, we'll be able to cloak ourselves for a few minutes."

"What about sensors? A station that big might be able to pick up our signature, even if we're invisible," Adam inquired.

Coran spoke, already prepared for that exact situation, "I can flood their short-range sensors with a radiation burst. That should buy you a minute or so while they assume it's cosmic interference. But, after that, it's up to you to be out of sight."

"Then we have our plan. Let's move out," Shiro said.

Adam watched as he led the others on board the green lion, his posture as commanding as his voice. He always felt like a different person when he was giving orders. He was so stern and resolute, a strangely fitting contrast to his usually softer and more playful demeanor. It suited him. When Adam met him, he thought he just had the frustratingly plain 'boy next door' personality. But he was so much more than that. He had the dedication and aspirations that most people would probably refer to as a heroic personality, and that was most likely true. But behind closed doors, with those he truly loved and trusted, he could also be silly and cute. He had a dark sense of humor, and he couldn't cook anything except a pot of coffee, which he didn't even drink!

Adam had to admit, seeing Shiro in his element like this, it made him smile on the inside. He was glad to see that his time as a prisoner hadn't stripped away who he truly was. Through all the hardship and pain, he remained unchanged, only gaining a higher sense of duty from it all. Adam wished he could say the same about himself. Losing Shiro, losing his brother, he always felt like a whirlwind of emotions and uncertainties. Pain and hardship always brought these deep changes in him, and Adam never really knew where he stood. He envied Shiro for his certainty of character, but also loved him and respected him for it. Adam chuckled softly to himself. Great, even his feelings about Shiro's personality traits were complicated. He told him he wanted to move on and forget about their relationship, but it was going to be hard if he kept having moments like this.

Adam decided to stop musing in his thoughts and follow after the others. As he stepped onto the ramp of the Green Lion, Coran called out to him, running up to him out of breath.

"Adam, wait! I want to give you something!" he stopped in front of him, panting and placing his hands on his knees to catch his breath. He must have run off somewhere and then back as fast as he could to get this exhausted. Either that or he was just grossly out of shape. And considering his play fight with Lance when they first met, that was entirely possible.

"Did you need something Coran?"

Once he caught his breath, he stood and pulled out something from his back, holding it out to Adam, "I'm working on something for you using the spare parts of your new arm."

"There are spare parts of my arm?" Adam cut in quickly, feeling oddly alarmed by that.

"That… that's not important! My point is, I'm working on a new weapon for you that is just about ready. But first, I want you to take this prototype and try it out," Coran held out what looked like a small white baton with streaks of purple on both ends. It matched Adam's armor, so it must not have been made from pieces of the proto-bayard since that was a dark grey and orange color.

He took it from Coran's hands holding it up, and finding it surprisingly light, "Sooo… what is this supposed to do?"

"Hold it in your robotic arm, and try to activate it like you did with the bayard!"

Adam switched hands, grasping the small baton in his metal fingers, silently willing it to activate. After a moment, his arm seemed to pulse, energy coursing through it and toward the prototype weapon. It glowed and suddenly extended out into a full-length staff, the weight simultaneously increasing with its new shape. Adam spun it around, taking a few practice swings, and switching between hands to see if it always needed to be in his prosthetic arm or not. It retained its shape when he did, so that meant it just needed his arm to activate and deactivate. He took hold of it again in his steel grey fingers, shrinking it back down to size and equipping it to his belt where a bayard would normally go.

"This is pretty nice Coran. Thanks," Adam complimented. He would have preferred having his halberd back, but this would do just as well.

"As you can tell, it responds only to the mechanics in your arm! I'm improving the function and weapon variety that you will have, but for now it is just the staff."

"I can make it work. Did you make anything like this for Takashi?" Adam asked curiously.

Coran seemed a little puzzled by the question, "He's never asked for any form of weapon. I thought he had grown accustomed to using his glowy Galra arm to fight with."

Well that was typical… Wait! He almost forgot to tell Coran what happened during training!

"Coran, I almost forgot, but earlier in the training room, my arm generated some kind of shield when Takashi and I were sparring. Keith said it looked like a particle barrier, but I'm not too sure."

Coran grabbed Adam's arm upon hearing that, holding it up and looking over every detail, completely breaching any personal space they had, "Hmm, I never intentionally designed it to have that capability, and I think number 5 would agree with me."

Rather than protest, Adam just let Coran look him over. He needed to get along with Coran better in the future, and yelling at him now wouldn't be very helpful.

"Adam! Are you coming or what?"

Adam looked over his shoulder to see Keith standing at the top of the green lion, looking a little impatient. Everyone was all ready to go, but had been halted by Adam's conversation with Coran. It had only been a couple of minutes, yet he could already tell Keith was getting antsy. No doubt the others were the same, they just had more patience and respect than Keith had toward him.

"Right, coming. We can talk more later Coran. Thanks for the prototype," he shook his arm free from Coran's examining gaze, making his way onto the lion.

"No problem! I'll just review the training room footage to see what you were talking about," Coran nodded.

"You… you have cameras in there?" Adam asked hesitantly, suddenly feeling very embarrassed about the things he and Shiro said in there.

"Of course! We record training sessions to see where improvements can be made," Coran said matter-of-factly.

"Right…."

"Adam!" Keith shouted, his voice telling him that he was about to be left behind.

"I'm coming, punk!" Adam shouted, following Keith onto the green lion.

Well, he could be embarrassed later after the mission. Hopefully Coran would at least be able to figure out what was going on with his arm. He could ask Pidge and Hunk too, since they helped engineer and design the thing. But for now, they just needed to focus on the mission.

 **VVVVVVVV**

"Interference clear in three, two, one," the computerized voice spoke.

The Galra soldier who was sitting at the monitor just yawned, leaning back in his chair. Of all the jobs in the Galran empire, this had to be the most boring one. All he did was sit up here in the main outpost control room, taking record of ships coming in and out. He wasn't even working in the cool science labs below. And it's not like anyone was going to come out of nowhere and attack the station or try to sneak in.

He felt a sudden tap on his shoulder, a voice calling him from behind, "Psst! Hey!"

He looked over to see who it was, quickly greeted with a fist to the face that both knocked him out and sent him flying out of his chair.

Shiro looked down at the unconscious man, pleased with his handiwork. The sound of the door swishing open behind him put him on high alert. A routine robotic drone was making the rounds, carrying a gun in its hands. Once it spotted Shiro, it took aim to fire. Shiro sped forward, keeping low to the ground to close the distance as fast as possible without getting shot. The drone managed to fire off a round, but it missed. Just as it pulled the trigger, Shiro activated his hand and sliced the drone's arm clean off. Not waiting for another attack, he did the same to the other arm, and finally kicked it to the ground. Sparks shot out of its arm sockets. The drone was still active, but it made no moves to get up or counterattack. It didn't seem like it was sending a distress signal either.

"How's it look out there?" Shiro asked on his helmet comm.

"All clear," Keith assured him.

The others had remained in the Green Lion, keeping an eye on guard detail and activity while Shiro went to regain control of the main guard tower. Adam would have volunteered to go down, but Shiro was more experienced at dodging Galran security. Plus, he had some unexpectedly good stealth training because he had an old friend who was a stealth operative back on Earth. Adam would have considered asking him to come along back when Shiro crashed on Earth, but he had been gone on a mission at the time, leaving Adam to rescue Shiro alone.

Once they gained control of the tower, Pidge landed the Green Lion in a secure area so they could rendezvous with him in the tower. Keith crouched over by the observation window to make sure the coast was clear and look out for any oncoming ships, while Pidge and Hunk worked on overriding the main console.

"This shouldn't take too long," Hunk said, messing around with some wires in the base.

Once they were all set Pidge signaled to Shiro to place his hand on the console, "We'll have all the information we need in a few minutes," the computer began beeping, Pidge pulling up a small holographic display on her arm to display the transfer, "Hunk and I have made some improvements since the last time I tried to download Galra info. We should get a nice, clean translation immediately. Hunk had a great idea about how to do it."

"Yeah yeah yeah. Do you guys remember when we studied algorithms at the Garrison, and Mr. York told us that joke about the ghost learning symbolic logic and innumerably infinite sets?"

"He's still telling that one?" Adam chuckled, thinking about his time back in his class.

"Boring!" Lance cut in. Science stuff wasn't exactly his forte.

Hunk just laughed it off, "Right, yeah, totally, it was boring. Anyway, the joke goes..."

Keith called out from across the room, interrupting Hunk once again, "Hey, guys, sorry to interrupt, but I think we got company. Think we should get out of here?"

"We just need a few more seconds," Pidge insisted.

Shiro crouched down as the ship descended past the window, keeping his palm on the console so as not to interrupt the download, "Everyone stay low. We need this intel."

Without warning, a holographic terminal popped up in front of the window where Pidge was standing, a Galran soldier on the other end waiting for the response to land.

"Get down!" Keith yelled in a hushed tone, tackling Pidge to the ground and out of sight of the screen.

"Huh?" The Galra soldier gasped out, only getting a brief glimpse of a blur.

Lance peaked up at the screen, whispering to the others, "He's still looking. I think he's waiting for a signal or something."

"I got it," Hunk said, crawling over to the robotic drone on the ground.

He pushed the Drone up into view of the screen, only showing it from the face up. He also took one of the detached arms and began waving it around, making a signal ushering the ship down into place.

"Affirmative," the Galran replied, the holographic screen shutting off.

"Whew," they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nice job, Hunk," Lance complimented.

"Thanks. I used to put on puppet shows for my little brothers and sisters," Hunk said, explaining his surprising puppeteering talents.

"Okay, download complete," Pidge informed them all, scrolling through the data.

"What's it say?" Keith asked, since he was still crouched on the ground right next to her.

"Nothing. This place doesn't have any useful information. Just a schedule of the ships coming in and out."

"Well, I guess this mission was a bust," Lance sighed with disappointment.

"Let's get back to the Castle," Shiro said. No point in staying in enemy territory any longer than needed if there was nothing to be gained.

Allura spoke up, looking down at the ship that just landed, "Hold on. Pidge, do you know where that ship is headed?"

She quickly scrolled through the registry to find the corresponding time, "Um, it's scheduled to be here for about a half an hour, then head off to Central Command."

"Then that's where they'll have the information we need, and I'm going to sneak aboard that ship and get it for us," Allura declared.

That made sense. If there was nothing out of the ordinary about the station, then the shipments processed here had to be special. This base couldn't just be hidden for no reason other than convenience. The Galra seemed too cocky for that.

"What? No way!" Lance almost shouted, alarmed by her suggestion.

"How are you even going to get in?" Keith inquired.

Adam almost asked the same thing. It may have been a large ship, but there was still only one obvious entrance, and there were two guards posted there. Taking them out would just alert the guards in the station, and that wasn't counting what might be waiting inside the ship.

Allura stood straight up, speaking confidently, "I'm going to walk right through the front."

Right before their eyes, she began to grow taller, just short of a Galran's average height, and her dark complexion turning into a deep purple hue. They all gasped at the revelation of her strange biological talent.

"How the heck did you do that?" Hunk exclaimed.

"The Alteans are a chameleon-like people who can blend in with the local populations. It's the ability that's made us great explorers and diplomats throughout our history," she explained proudly.

That was seriously impressive. Adam had to admit that learning this made him very curious about Allura, at least from a medical standpoint. He had a sudden urge to get some samples from her that he could examine. But that would be for later.

"So, can you turn into, like, a balloon?" Lance asked.

"How many different colors can you be at once?" Pidge pressed, also curious about the limitations of her talent.

"Aren't you afraid you'll rip your pants?" Hunk asked, speaking to the more practical aspects of her ability.

It was a little amusing, and quite easy to see how the three of them had become friends. They all filled some kind of role the other didn't, and balanced each other out while also having some similar interests. They were quite the trio.

"No, just one at a time, and I will need a change of costume," she answered in sequence. She pointed at the unconscious guard that Shiro had knocked out, "I can use his uniform as a disguise."

"I can't let you go in there alone," Shiro told her.

"Excuse me? I do not need your permission," she replied, taking offense that he thought she might be incapable.

"It's too dangerous. I'm going in with you," he insisted.

 _Ever the valiant knight_ , Adam thought. He was right though, they would be safer if they traveled together. If Allura made even one tiny slip up, then she'd be on an enemy ship all alone. At least with Shiro by her side she would have back up. But even then, those weren't great odds…

"You will stick out like a Choferiak's nose," Allura continued to protest.

"You're going to need that nose, Princess," Pidge came in, defending Shiro's stance, "Shiro's hand is made from Galra tech. It's the only thing we have that will allow us to interface with their systems and gather intel. I can monitor the download remotely from here."

Allura huffed, conceding to the idea, "Fine, you can come."

"I'm going too," Adam stepped forward.

"Absolutely not!" Allura practically shouted. There was a clear benefit to bringing Shiro along, but Adam insisting on it as well was just stabbing at her pride.

"It will be hard enough for me and Allura to sneak on," Shiro replied, thinking more about the covert aspects of their mission.

Adam brushed him off, "I don't care. I'm not letting you go anywhere without me. You'll need my help if something goes wrong," he pressed. A team of three would be a lot safer, albeit less covert. But there was no way he was going to let Shiro out of his sight again. He'd made that mistake one too many times, and he promised himself that he wouldn't lose anyone else ever again.

Hunk cut in awkwardly, preventing Allura and Shiro from objecting further, gesturing to his wrist like he was wearing a watch, "Uh, you guys better hurry up if you want to get on and off before the ship leaves for Zarkon central."

"Ugh, fine!" Allura growled out. She wasn't happy with this development, but she'd rather bring them both than waste valuable time arguing about it.

"How are you going to get them on board?" Keith asked her. Her way in was clear, but Adam and Shiro couldn't exactly pass for 7-foot Galra soldiers.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Allura pushed a hovering cargo cart toward the Central Command ship, fully dressed in the guard's armor from the control tower. She looked like a full Galra in it, and the helmet hid her features. That made walking around that station easy enough. Now she just needed to get on board. As she reached the ramp of the ship, she was stopped by one of the sentry guards posted at the exit.

"Halt," he said, walking over to the container she was pushing.

Allura tensed, watching as the sentry came closer to the cargo pod. Inside the cart, Adam and Shiro were squished together inside, Adam laying on top of Shiro in a crouched position. It was kinda awkward, especially when their bodies were pressed together in such a cramped space, but it was the only way they could think of getting inside. Adam just didn't expect the inside to be so small when they stole it from the station. The only thing that was keeping his and Shiro's faces from pressing together was their helmets. They both felt like blushing, but hearing the soldier coming toward them made them tense in anticipation just in case they needed to be ready to fight their way out.

The sentry scanned a barcode that was on the side of the storage container, registering it and standing back into place, "Move along."

Allura breathed a sigh of relief as she walked past, pushing the cart onto the ship and looking for a secure area to let out her companions.

"They're in," Lance said aloud, watching Allura pass the security from their crouched positions.

Keith, on the other hand, was focused on the large metallic boxes being unloaded from the ship, "What do you think they have in all those giant containers?"

"Well, I suspect that it's sporks," Hunk said seriously. A brief moment of silence made him look around to see the skeptical looks everyone was directing toward him, "What? This is an advanced race we're talking about here. Surely, they've learned that it's foolish to have forks and spoons when one tool will efficiently do the job."

"Maybe this guy will tell us," Pidge suggested, kneeling in front of the robotic soldier Hunk had played around with, "What is coming in and out of this station?"

"Interrogation detected. Initiating lockdown."

"Not talking, eh?" Pidge said slyly, taking it as a challenge.

"Whoa. Check out this guy," Keith spoke up, still watching the main floor from the window. He was looking at a tall figure in a dark robe and a mask, following the metal containers being unloaded deep into the base, "Whatever's happening here that requires the base to be kept secret must have something to do with that scary dude. I'm going to go check it out."

Keith kept low to the ground as he stood and made his way past the others, slowly heading for the door.

Lance reached for his hand but missed, staying low to the ground as he watched Keith leave, "How about we just lay low and you don't blow our cover? Keith, think about what you're doing! Don't walk through that door!"

Lance almost wanted to shout, but his actions were to no avail as Keith merely dived outside, the swish of the doors closing his only response to Lance's pleas.

"I think I told him," Lance settled, leaning against the main control panel.

"You are a paragon of leadership, Lance," Pidge quipped, unscrewing the hatch on the robotic drone.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Back on the ship, once Allura managed to sneak the container into an unsupervised portion of the ship, she let Adam and Shiro out of the box.

"Ahh, thank god. It was cramped in there. Shiro's breath was killing me," Adam joked, stretching his body out.

"We're wearing helmets. and you were the one kneeing me in the stomach," Shiro complained.

"Shh," Allura shushed them. They needed to remember where they were.

Allura turned toward the hall first, gesturing for the two grown men to follow her. She remained in her altered form, just in case they ran into any Galra soldier or drone face to face. Adam and Shiro stuck close behind her, sticking to walls and corners so as not to be seen.

They had to pause every few minutes, listening as the rhythmic clang of footsteps notified them of the patrols through the ship. The echo of the footsteps were perfectly synched, which meant these rounds had to be highly organized.

Ducking behind another corner as they continued down the halls, Adam noticed that Shiro's finger was tapping along with the footsteps of the patrols.

"Takashi?" he whispered to him, but Shiro's eyes were glazed over, lost in a state of focus.

Noticing that they weren't moving, Allura came up beside them, shaking Shiro's shoulder, "Shiro, are you all right?"

Shiro gasped, regaining his bearing on where he was. He looked at them, the pieces of his memory starting to click back into place, "I just remembered how I escaped from the Galra prison ship. Most of the ship's personnel are sentries."

That made sense. The rhythmic pattern of the footsteps should have clued them into that much. Only robots could casually stroll through the ship with such uniform pattern. But what did that have to do with anything?

"So?" Allura asked, voicing Adam's question.

"When I was a prisoner, I timed their pattern," Shiro smirked, realizing he had the key to getting them through this.

"Do you remember it?" Adam asked.

"Let's find out," Shiro pulled away from the door, this time leading the other two through the perils of the Galra's ship.

 **VVVVVVVV**

After expertly navigating through the halls of the enemy territory, they had found their way to a control room that would have the information they needed. Luckily this ship was another large cruiser that had the exact same layout as the previous ones. They snuck up to the open doorway, peeking in to see another soldier posted at the console. Just one more person they needed to knock out. Adam was in a more ideal position, so he darted out from behind cover, rushing up behind the unsuspecting man and hitting him hard and fast in the back of the head with his metal fist. The impact of his hand hitting the Galra's helmet made a resounding clang, the soldier dropping to the floor.

"We only have a few minutes before the next patrol comes by. Watch the door," Shiro said, following Adam into the control room as he spoke to Allura.

"Got it," she nodded in affirmation, standing out in the hall to act like a guard on post.

Shiro placed his hand on the console to activate it, using his helmet comms to talk to the others, "Okay, Pidge, start the download."

"Generating access code," she acknowledged.

Lines of code began running across the screen in front of them, showing Pidge was already hacking into the system. She really was a marvel. Most people could only dream of the natural talent Pidge already had at such a young age. However, after only a minute, the running lines of code completely froze, indicating something was wrong.

"Pidge, I think there's a problem," Adam said.

"Sit tight. I'm trying to work around this," she told them both.

That didn't sound very encouraging, but they should have figured this ship would have a higher security protocol than the station tower, since this place had more useful information than a shipping manifest.

Allura heard the small commotion inside the room, distracting her long enough for one of the Galran sentries to sneak up on her.

"What's going on here? Who are you?" he asked. Adam and Shiro whirled around, hearing the soldier just outside.

Surprised, she turned to him fully, improvising a story to work with, "It's about time you got here. Where is the rest of your squad?" she exclaimed, pretending to be annoyed.

"Uh, what squad?" The soldier asked, caught off guard by her commanding presence.

"Hurry up, Pidge," Shiro whispered, Adam readying his weapon and standing in front of Shiro just in case.

"Almost there!"

"The squad that is to escort me and my associate to our ship," Allura continued on.

She was interrupted by the sound of the computer making a loud audible sound of confirmation that access had been granted, beginning to scroll through all the information in their system as it was remotely downloaded.

"Who's back there? What's going on?" the Galra asked, alarmed by the sound of the computer console and attempting to step by her.

She quickly maneuvered back in front of him, blocking the door so he couldn't see past her, "We are part of Zarkon's high command. Our work must not be disturbed."

"Where's Chief Information Officer Plytox?" he demanded to know.

Adam looked over his shoulder to the unconscious Galra soldier.

"Uh, he's in there. Say hello, Plyrox," Allura called over her shoulder.

Adam and Shiro looked at each other, unsure of how to respond. Adam gestured to Shiro to say something, to which he made a silent gesture back toward Adam asking what he should even say. Adam lunged forward, not having enough time to explain it to Shiro before they got caught. He grabbed Shiro's head and turned it toward the door, lightly squeezing his neck to make him deepen his voice before whispering in his ear.

"Uh... It's 'Plytox'!" Shiro rasped out, a little bit hoarse but in a much deeper tone than normal.

"Oh, sorry. See?" Allura apologized before turning her attention back to the Galra soldier.

"Oh. Vrepit sa, sir!" The soldier called out. He leaned toward Allura and whispered, "I get his name wrong all the time, too."

"Whew," Adam sighed softly in relief, letting Shiro go. That was a close one.

A soft smack to the back of his head almost made him gasp out, but he covered his mouth just in time. He looked over at Shiro to see his hand raised, eyebrow twitching with irritation at nearly being chocked.

"It worked, didn't it!?" Adam whispered harshly.

"Why didn't you just say it?" Shiro hissed. He was glad Adam's ploy worked, but he didn't like being manipulated like a freaking puppet either.

"Your voice is deeper than mine, and that guy clearly had a deep voice. I heard him grunt when I knock him out," Adam reasoned, pointing toward the unconscious officer in the corner of the room.

"Fine," Shiro acknowledged, satisfied with that explanation, "But next time warn me you're gonna do something like that!"

"Oh please Takashi, that's hardly the roughest I've been on you," he rolled his eyes.

"Time and place Adam."

They argued quietly, waiting for the download to finish. Allura kept the guard occupied, hoping this would be over quickly.

"Hey, can I ask you… Do you think I could get assigned to Zarkon's unit?" The Galra soldier laughed, "Nothing happens on this ship."

Wow. Talk about irony.

Allura pretended to contemplate his question for a moment, "Oh, well, I don't know. What's your bloodthirstiness on a scale of one to five? One being 'No, thanks, I'm full,' and five being 'Unquenchable.'"

"Hmm... If I'm being honest, about a three," The Galra admitted nonchalantly.

"We can work on that," Allura smiled, grabbing the Galra by the shoulder and subtly guiding him away from the door as they talked.

 _Nice job Allura_ , Adam thought to himself as he was pressed up against the wall to see how her situation was going. She was actually a pretty good distraction. She had a silver tongue when it came to politics, but he didn't realize it extended into espionage. Adam looked over at Shiro, smiling and giving him a quick nod to tell him they were good for now. But when he looked over, he saw an image flash across the screen of the computer terminal that almost made him gasp.

"Wait, go back," Adam said rather alarmingly, rushing to Shiro's side.

"Adam…"

"Just do it!" he insisted.

Shiro wasn't sure how much control he had while the download was finishing up, but he twisted his hand on the console, and luckily it slowly began to cycle back through the images. When it reached the one Adam was looking for, he quickly grabbed Shiro's metal arm and held it there, keeping the picture onscreen. Once he saw it, and the name written on the side of the spacecraft in the picture, he realized why Adam was suddenly so panicked.

"Adam… is that?"

"It can't be. It's the Voyager 7. That was my brother's spaceship," Adam was unsure of what to think about all this. So many thoughts and emotions were coursing through his mind and body, all in an instant.

"Then that means…"

"The Galra took my brother, just like they did you…" Adam looked over at Shiro, deep in his eyes. Could it really be possible? Could Aiden really be alive after all this time, just another prisoner of war? Just like Shiro had been? It had been so long that chances were still slim, but for the first time in years, Adam allowed himself to feel a glimmer of hope that he might get to see his brother one more time. He let the hand that was still grabbing Shiro arm slide down and rest on top of his hand, sharing the moment with him as they smiled softly at each other.

But their exchange was short lived, as red lights began to flash and an alarm blared throughout the ship. A computerized voice came out of the computer console, bringing up a picture of Shiro in the tattered garbs he was wearing while he was a prisoner.

"Fugitive prisoner 117-9875 detected. Remain where you are. Security alerted."

Shit! Making Shiro take manual control of the computer terminal must have set something off.

"Pidge!?" Shiro called out through his helmet radio.

"The download is finished! Go now!" she yelled. Based on the urgency of her voice, it sounded like the ship wasn't the only place being alerted to their presence. This place was gonna be swarmed in a manner of minutes.

Shiro grabbed Adam's hand, who was still slightly dazed at the prospect of his brother possibly being alive, pulling him out of the control room and back toward Allura. Once they stepped into the hall, the Galra soldier Allura had been distracting stepped in front of her, pointing his gun at them and yelling with a shaky voice.

"Uh, help! Intruders!"

Allura slammed the back of his head, quickly knocking out the unassuming guard. She leaned down to pick up his gun, but was interrupted by the rapid fire of blasts coming toward them from down the hall as several soldiers advanced on them. Shiro and Adam dove through the nearest open door to avoid the blasts, Allura right behind them. They sealed the door to keep the guards out, not realizing they had just locked themselves in a storage room.

"I think we're in trouble," Shiro said.

"You think?!" Allura exclaimed.

Adam looked around for a vent or any kind of access hatch they could use to get out, the banging on the door from the outside telling them they were trapped. Adam readied his weapon, extending it out. This was not the place he expected to make a final stand.

Allura walked by him, toward the back of the room, turning to face the door and getting into position for a running start. Was she?... Allura charged at the door, ramming it with her shoulder and breaking through it, breaking the storage door free from the wall and smashing into the two Galra soldiers on the other side.

Adam and Shiro walked out into the hall, looking down at their now unconscious pursuers They looked up at Allura, mouths agape in surprise at such a surprising display of strength. She reached down and grabbed of the guns on the ground, looking over and seeing their stunned faces.

"What?" she asked, not understanding what she did was ridiculously impressive.

The sound of more approaching footsteps broke them out of their daze and urged them to start moving again.

"Let's go!"

 **VVVVVVVV**

They ran down the various halls, doing their best to avoid any patrols or pursuers. Allura and Adam followed after Shiro, letting him guide them through ship.

"Pidge, fire up the Green Lion! We're coming in hot!" Shiro yelled into his comms.

"We're on our way. We'll have to grab Keith first," she told him, panting lightly to let him know they were already moving.

"Wait, where did Keith go?" Shiro asked urgently, both surprised and alarmed.

"The ship was carrying chemicals off in giant metal containers, and he followed it inside," she told him

"What!?" he nearly yelled.

"Look out!"

Adam pushed Shiro up against the wall, barely managing to dodge several shots of upcoming fire. Allura took aim and fired the at the Galra soldier in front of them, but she must have been holding it wrong, because the blast went behind her instead. Luckily, the shot ended up taking down another Galra that was approaching them from the rear. The one in front of them hesitated, confused by the strange display, giving Adam the chance to activate his staff and launch it at him like a spear. The end of his staff collided with his head, knocking him back. Shiro swerved around Adam and grabbed Allura's gun out of her hands, turning it around and blasting the Galra soldier in the chest.

Shiro turned to Allura, giving her a dirty look while Adam strolled over to the dead guard to retrieve his weapon.

"What?" Allura questioned, wondering why she was suddenly on his bad side.

Shiro stuffed the gun back into her arms, this time facing the right way, "I thought you said you'd traveled around the galaxy. I mean, you fly a spaceship. How could you possibly not know how to hold this correctly?"

Shiro was being a little short with her, but Adam knew why he was really annoyed. He was just lashing out because he was worried about Keith. The young paladin's decision to track a supply line on his own while they were in enemy territory was an incredibly stupid decision to make. Of course, if anyone could skulk around undetected, Keith would have the best chance out of anyone else in their group. Still, considering how much Shiro cared about him, and how much faith he put in Keith to do the right thing, it was definitely adding stress to this already tight predicament to know he had acted so brashly.

"I'm tense! This is a tense situation," Allura defended herself.

That was an understatement. What if Pidge and others couldn't find Keith in time to get him out? What if they found him, but wouldn't be able to pick them up in time? Keith's decision to chase down his own leads added too many variables to an already risky scenario. But there was no time to dwell on that now. They needed to get out of here as soon as they could.

Adam grabbed his staff from the ground, collapsing it down to size until he needed it again, "Don't mind him. He gets short and snippy when he's stressed out," he told Allura.

"Adam, we don't…" Shiro started.

The deafeningly loud whir that rocked through the ship interrupted Shiro's scolding. It quieted down into a low hum, and the floor felt like it was vibrating underneath them. The ship was starting to take off.

"I know, I know, we don't have time. Let's just go," Adam said. He said what he wanted to say. Now they needed to get out of here before it was too late.

 **VVVVVVVV**

They went back to following Shiro, heading toward the hangar bay that they entered from last time they infiltrated one of their ships. It would be the most open point of escape for Pidge to swoop in and get them.

"It's a left up ahead!"

"Shiro!" Keith's voice came in over the radio.

"Keith! Are you alright?" Shiro asked, relieved to hear back from him.

"Yeah, we're headed your way," he assured him, "Listen. There was something down here. It was wearing a robe and a mask, and it could shoot electricity out of its hands. It seemed to be able to disappear and reappear anywhere it wanted."

What the hell? What kind of technology could let them do that?

"Why are you telling us this now?" Adam asked.

"Because that thing came from the main ship! Once the alarms started going off, it disappeared. It may be coming after you," Keith warned.

"One of the witches' druids!" Allura said loudly, the description he provided finally clicking.

"Witch!?" Adam shouted, bewildered by the very idea of witches or magic. And not only did that sound crazy, but it sounded like Allura was already familiar with whoever that was, and the creature Keith was talking about.

"One of the things we learned while you were unconscious," Shiro explained, "Zarkon has a witch on his side. She was in charge of the experiments they ran on us while I was prisoner."

"No! No freaking way!" Adam shouted, "I can handle aliens, intergalactic wars, and even giant mechanical lions that communicate through psychic connections; but I am drawing the line at magic!"

"Is now really the best time!?" Shiro argued.

"Technically it's more like alchemy!" Allura corrected.

"That's just magic with extra steps!" Adam screamed.

"Get down!"

"Ahh!" Shiro turned and tackled him to the ground, making Adam gasp out in surprise, a bolt of blue electricity passing over them.

Shiro was laying over Adam, shielding him with his body and looking over where the source of the attack came from. Once he caught his breath, Adam looked over to follow his gaze, seeing a cloaked figure in front of them that wasn't there before. It has strangely long fingers with sharp nails that looked like claws, and it wore a white mask with red stripes to emulate the appearance of eyes.

"I'm guessing that's the druid Keith was talking about," Adam said.

"Yeah, I remember those damn masks," Shiro spat out, standing up and pulling Adam to his feet, "Get ready!"

Both of them readied their weapons, Allura pulling up the rear to lay down cover fire. They needed to think of the best way to fight this thing. It's ability to teleport made it unpredictable, and easily put them at a disadvantage since it could attack any one of them from behind in an instant. They could line up back to back to keep track of where it is, but they all wouldn't be able to dodge an attack fast enough if they did that. Although, maybe they shouldn't be the one of the ropes…

Adam activated his weapon, extending it into a staff and charging at the druid. Adam roared, swiping his staff from the side with all the force he could muster. Just as he was about to make contact with it, it teleported away, Adam's staff swinging through empty air and causing him to turn around from the momentum.

"Adam!" Shiro yelled, his voice panic-stricken.

Adam dove forward and rolled out of the way of another electrical blast. He landed on his feet and looked over his shoulder, seeing the druid had appeared behind Adam after he tried striking it. Adam smirked. _Just as I thought._

"Allura! Fire!" Adam yelled, rolling out of the way and staying low to the ground.

Allura lifted her weapon at the Druid, pulling the trigger on her gun now that she had a clean shot and unleashing a barrage of gunfire on it. Unsurprisingly, the druid teleported away and Allura stalled her attack to see where it would reappear.

"Allura! Down!"

Allura dropped to the ground, seeing Adam come running up to her side and swinging his staff once again as hard as he could. Doing so, he managed to make direct contact with the druid just as it appeared right behind her. The impact sent it reeling back onto the ground, Adam using most of the strength in his metal arm to deliver the blow. He lunged up to deliver a powerful downward strike, but his strike was met with dead air and the clang of the metal floor. Damn! Almost had him.

Adam had figured out its pattern of attack almost immediately. Its ability to teleport definitely gave it the edge, but that also meant that it would have gotten lazy with its attack strategy. Waiting for an enemy to attack and then teleporting behind them to deliver the finish blow was about as simple as you could get, even if it was incredibly effective. Whereas Shiro and Adam were both highly trained in several forms of strategy and combat, and most likely Allura was too. They just needed to be smart, and this would be over in no time.

Adam looked around, waiting to see where it would reappear. If it was capable of getting angry, the attacks would be more ferocious now that Adam had landed a hit on it. But that was good, because that meant it wouldn't be able to think clearly under pressure.

"Allura, keep firing at it whenever you see it! Takashi, you and I will keep charging it!"

"Got it!" Allura agreed.

"Let's end this quickly," Shiro declared.

The druid appeared behind Adam once again, which Allura fired at immediately to get it away from him. It quickly teleported behind her, which she was ready for, turning on her heel and crouching down to fire up at it. Adam guessed at where the most obvious next strike would come from, and charged right at Shiro.

"Down!" Adam yelled at him, giving him a knowing look. Shiro dropped and crouched down. Just as the druid appeared behind him, Adam jumped and used a hand to push on Shiro's back and vault over him, delivering a swift kick to the druid's chest. It reeled back, acting more like an ordinary person in its reaction than its costume and demeanor would suggest.

Out of the corner of his eye, Adam saw it's clawed hand spark blue with electricity. He threw himself back, rolling over Shiro's back and just barely dodging the blast. Shiro took a charged up shot from below, swinging with a fierce uppercut. This time the druid disappeared again, immediately reappearing right next to Shiro and about to strike.

Fortunately, Allura had gotten into position and fired a shot to chase it off once more. Adam huffed, this game of vanishing cat and mouse was getting really old real quick. He twisted his staff in his hands, holding his ground and ready to strike. Shiro and Allura spread out, covering more ground so the druid couldn't get the jump on more than one of them. Adam's body was on high alert when he felt a cool rush of air at his back, signaling him to a new presence. He swung his staff around, but it was immediately blasted out of his hands, leaving him vulnerable to attack.

"Allura!" Shiro cried from across the room, urging her to fire.

"I don't have a clean shot!"

The next few seconds seemed to move in slow motion. The druid reached back with a clawed hand, ready to strike forward with it's full force, fingers glowing with electricity and power. Adam moved his metallic arm into the path of its strike, instinctually hoping it could withstand the attack. He braced himself, closing his eyes and waiting for the impact. But just before it made contact with him, the orange particle shield shot out of Adam's arm, this time coming out almost as big as his whole body and creating a barrier between him and the creature. Its strike clashed with Adam's shield, the energy deflecting back on it and a huge explosion of power erupted from it.

The pressure knocked Adam back onto the ground, and the surrounding structures of the ship were demolished, caving into the hallway. Shiro wanted to rush forward toward Adam, but the falling debris and cloud of smoke kept him back.

"Adam!"

No. NO. This wasn't happening! He can't lose him like this!

Once the debris settled, Shiro pushed through the fading cloud of smoke, calling out to Adam. With each step, he felt more and more chunks of metal under his feet, sloping up into a small hill. His heart quickened, panicking at the thought of Adam being buried under all this. Every movement forward meant that more and more of this was just sitting on top of him.

 _Please. Please don't do this me_ , Shiro silently begged. He dropped to his hands and knees where he thought he saw Adam fall, clawing at the debris, and throwing it off to the sides as fast as he could. Second after second, he became more frantic.

"Come on. Come on!" Shiro cried.

"Shiro…" Allura said timidly, walking up behind him.

"No!" He yelled at her. He knew exactly what she was gonna say. That she was sorry, but they couldn't stay here any longer. That there was probably very little chance Adam survived this, and while that all may have been true, Shiro refused to accept that, "Just help me dig!"

"Shiro, if we stay here…"

"I'm not leaving him!" he cried desperately. Shiro dug and dug, his heart cracking under the pressure and desperation. He pulled away one piece of metal, seeing a limp hand sticking up out of the debris. Shiro's heart dropped, standing up and grabbing the hand, pulling with all his might. Come on. Be alive. You can be unconscious, or hurt, just be alive!

Shiro hauled the body up out of the debris, coming face to face with a dead Galran soldier. Shiro was confused for a moment. This sentry must have been on the floor above them when it caved in, getting crushed under the rubble. So then, where was Adam?

At that moment, a large mound of metal shifted, the orange glow of Adam's shield underneath it peeking through. Shiro dropped the dead guard, jumping up and scrambling over to help him. He pushed a large pile of metal scraps and plating off him before Adam finally dropped his shield. Shiro pulled him free from the rubble and onto his feet, quickly pulling him into a hug.

"You're okay! You're okay," Shiro said over and over. Not so much for Adam's benefit, but rather to calm himself down and assure himself this was real.

"My shield covered my whole body and protected me, but I got stuck under there. I was afraid it would deactivate if I moved, but it didn't," Adam told him.

"I thought you…. I thought I…" Shiro tried to find the words, but didn't get the chance to finish.

The sound of gunfire pulled them from each other's embrace and gaze, looking over to see Allura firing her gun down one of the hallways.

"We have to go now!" she called over to them.

Shiro looked over to where they needed to go, the path blocked by all the destroyed pieces of ship. Well, at least they managed to take out the druid.

"The way is blocked! We have to go back!" Shiro yelled, sliding down the hill of debris.

"Then were can we go?" Adam asked.

"The escape pods. If we all get into one of the shuttles and eject, then Pidge can pick us up in deep space," Shiro told them. He used the escape shuttle the first time he escaped, so he would be able to find it just as quickly. It might even be safer now that the ship was taking off, the shuttle would eject them at a high speed far away from the cruiser.

"Then let's go now!" Allura said, laying down suppressing fire as they all took off with a new destination in mind.

 **VVVVVVVV**

"The escape pods are up here!" Shiro yelled, leading Allura and Adam through the various halls. If there was one place he had memorized, it was where he had escaped this nightmare of a prison.

As they ran, a robotic voice echoed through the speakers on the ship, "Formulating navigation. All crew assume secure hyper-speed positions."

"Hurry! We can't leave once the ship goes into hyper-speed!" Allura yelled.

Once the ship sped off, they could end up anywhere with no way of the others being able to catch up to them. And getting in the escape pod wouldn't even be an option since they'd either be stranded in deep space, or the pod could break apart at such a high speed. Either way, they'd be stuck on an enemy ship with no way out.

They ran as fast as they could, pushing their bodies to the limits to reach their only means of salvation. The sounds of rushing footsteps and clamoring soldiers behind them motivated them to move even faster. Finally they reached the final stretch, a long hallway with an entrance to the escape pod hangar. They rushed through the door, dodging a few shots of gunfire as the soldiers following them came into view. Allura and Adam pushed the hangar door shut, keeping out the Galra so they couldn't follow.

"We can't hold the door and get away at the same time!" Adam yelled, seeing no latch or electronic lock to hold it secure.

"I got it!" Shiro activated his arm, his hand glowing deep purple with energy. He pressed it against the seam of the door, the heat radiating from his palm welding it shut. That was brilliant! If he could weld the entire door frame, then that would give them just enough time to get in the pod and take off before the Galra broke through.

The sound of an engine whirring behind them grabbed their attention. Adam looked over his head, seeing the escape ship powering up and the engines beginning to ignite. It must have been an automated response to the hangar door being closed.

"It's taking off! Both of you, get in the pod!" Allura told them.

"We're not leaving you! Adam!" Shiro called out to him, the urgency of his voice telling him to do something. It was a call he remembered well, and Adam sprung into action, thinking about what he could do.

He saw the loading bay door of the escape pod begin to close. If it was an automated system, that meant it couldn't take off until the doors were fully shut. Adam made sure Allura had a good hold on the hangar entrance before bolting away and rushing toward the pod.

"I'll try to stall it!" he called out back to them.

He ran into the pod, grabbing his staff and extending it out to wedge it between the shuttle door and the floor. But after only a second, the staff began to crack. Adam reached out and pushed up against the door, bracing his legs on the ground. The hydraulics on this little shuttle were really strong. Even with a metallic staff and all the strength he could muster in both his human and robotic arms, it was still slowly closing.

"I can't stop it! Takashi, hurry!" Adam shouted, his voice strained as he pushed with all his strength.

He just needed to hold it long enough for Shiro to finish welding the hangar entrance. Damn it! Why couldn't he activate that stupid particle shield on command?! That would hold the door jammed open no problem. Adam tried to focus on making it come out large enough to pry the door, but there was too much going on. The sound of the staff continuing to crack beside him, and the force of the shuttle pressing down on him were distracting enough as it was. So far his shield only came out whenever his life was in immediate danger. Despite the tension of this situation, there was no oncoming attack he reflexively needed to defend against.

"You have to go!" Allura ordered Shiro. She couldn't let the leader of Voltron be captured. He was their only hope in standing a chance against Zarkon. And it was clear that he wasn't going to leave without Adam.

"No! I'm almost done!" Shiro said defiantly. He couldn't leave her behind. He couldn't do that to anyone else. Being with Adam again, and being part of this team made him realize that. He couldn't stand to make any more sacrifice like that.

"Adam can't hold it anymore. And if you get captured then Voltron will be useless," Allura let go of the door, using her incredible strength to pick Shiro up, throwing him across the hangar and directly into Adam.

They fell to the ground inside the escape pod, the staff finally breaking under the sheer force of the shuttle door finally closing shut.

Shiro scrambled to his feet, looking out the small window that was built into the shuttle door. Adam rushed to his side, just in time to see Allura smiling at them as the Galra soldiers broke through the door. After what her father did, she didn't like the idea of making sacrifices, but now she realized, and understood how he felt. Saving Shiro was for the greater good, and the sake of the universe. But more than that, she was sacrificing herself for the sake of friends, and she could live with that.

Adam and Shiro watched in desperation and horror as the Galra soldiers surrounded her, just as the shuttle took off into deep space. They grabbed her and pushed her to the ground, placing her in restraints. And then in an instant, she was out of view. She had been captured, and her fate was a mystery to them. They had lost another friend.

"No!" Shiro cried, he pounded the door with his fist, collapsing to his hands and knees.

"Allura…" Adam whispered out breathlessly.

He couldn't believe it. He hadn't known her long, but that day they talked through the night, he felt like they had gotten so very close. Not to mention that she had helped care for him when he was severely injured, just like everyone else. She was a friend, and he had failed to protect her. He had let down another person he cared about. He should have been faster, stronger, something!

He dropped sown to Shiro's side, placing his arms on his shoulders comfortingly. He had gotten to know Allura even longer than he had, and while Shiro was capable of making tough calls, he was also the kind of person that hated leaving a soldier behind. Shiro reached up and squeezed one of Adam's hands, acknowledging the comfort he was trying to bring him.

Shiro looked up at him, his expression fierce and his eyes on fire. Adam was surprised by that look, but it only took him a moment to understand. Without saying a word, they both realized what they had to do. What they couldn't help but do; otherwise, there was no way they would be able to live with themselves.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Once Adam and Shiro were ejected into space, it didn't take very long for Pidge to grab their shuttle and take it back to the Castle. Once they were all back in the hangar, they shuffled out of their respective ships to regroup. Adam and Shiro walked out, their expressions stiff and bodies giving off an aura of determination and anger.

"Where's Allura?" Keith asked immediately, noticing she was not with the two men.

"Shiro?" Lance prodded urgently, not realizing she was missing until Keith said it. Lance became visibly panicked. While Allura may have been his crush, she was still a friend and a key component of their team. For anyone one of them to go missing, it was alarming.

Shiro's voice was as stiff as his body, the inescapable feeling of failure washing over him, "She sacrificed herself to save me. To save us," he finished, sharing a knowing look with Adam.

Adam was just as torn up as Shiro was, but he half wondered what was going through his mind. Shiro was the star golden boy of the Garrison. He could do anything he put his mind to, and he always moved forward of his own accord. He made his own choices and achieved every goal he set out for himself, even when they were painful. But he had never really experienced failure before, at least not any significant one Adam could remember. Shiro had the state of mind and character to deal with losses and persevere through them, but when was the last time he actually lost in a situation this dire? Or lost a fiend?

"So, she's still on that ship?" Pidge pressed, immediately understanding the situation but not wanting to believe it. She had become closer to Allura than she realized, and she didn't want anyone else taken just like her own family was.

"The ship that's headed to Zarkon's Central Command?" Hunk asked. He understood that meant there would be almost no chance of getting her back if that was true, "The place that's way too dangerous for us to attack?"

Shiro cut in, his voice commanding and a hint of frustration in his tone, "It doesn't matter how dangerous it is. We can't let Zarkon get Allura."

"Without her we can't use the castle to its full capacity. And more than that, she's our friend. We're not losing anyone," Adam announced, his stance just as resolute as Shiro's.

Hunk looked over at Shiro, "But you said going there would be a huge mistake. You said for us to attack that place head-on would be the dumbest possible thing we could ever do!"

Shiro nodded in agreement, "I know. But now we don't have a choice."

Shiro walked away, leaving the others behind, most likely to tell Coran what happened. He would definitely be the most upset by this, and Shiro was probably the best person to tell him. As Adam looked back at the others, he could see the others were scared, but also ready to take on this mission. Each of them had their own reasons. Pidge and Keith had lost people they loved to the Galra before, and they didn't want that to happen again. Hunk and Lance were both soft-hearted and caring people, and the idea of losing a friend to an enemy is something they wouldn't abide, no matter how scared either of them were. Each of their reasons were something Adam could understand and relate to. All his loses, all his failures, it made him more like the others than he realized. And while he had felt close to them before, for the first time, he could see they all had one thing in common. They were going to save Allura.


	11. Heart of Regrets

**Chapter 10: Heart of Regrets**

As Shiro stormed onto the bridge, Coran whirled around seeing the others trail in behind him. Seeing the fierce expression on the Black Paladin's face made him feel easy, standing back as he watched him bark out orders.

"Pidge, scan the download from the ship. Find out where Zarkon's central command is."

"On it!" Pidge nodded, running over to her usual computer terminal.

"What happened? Where's Allura?" Coran asked, immediately noticing her absence.

Shiro turned to him, quickly becoming apologetic, "They captured her. She sacrificed herself to save me and the information. I didn't have a choice."

Coran shook his head in disbelief, "How is that possible?"

"Coran, I'm sorry things didn't go as planned, but we can't focus on what went wrong. We've got to figure out how to make it right," Shiro told him dismissively, turning away from him and back to Pidge.

Adam almost couldn't believe how curt he was being with Coran right now. Usually he was so compassionate, but Adam supposed that time was of the essence. If anything, this was more an indication of Shiro's determination and resolve. He was refusing to acknowledge that Allura was out of their reach, because he already had it in his mind that he was going to make things right.

Adam walked over to Coran, resting a hand on his shoulder in reassurance, "It's my fault too, Coran. But we're gonna fix it. I promise."

Coran seemed to appreciate the gesture, but didn't say anything in reply, probably still trying to process everything that had just been unloaded on him in the span of 2 minutes.

"Pidge, anything?" Shiro asked as he approached her; Hunk, Lance, and Keith hanging back by her side.

"Look at this," Pidge brought up the schematics of Zarkon's central command on the holographic projector in the middle of the room. There was a large mother ship where Zarkon had to be. Surrounding it were several cruisers and various small ships and stations. It was like its own solar system network.

"Look at the size of it!" Lance exclaimed, the reality of the threat finally dawning on him.

"I think we should go in right away. Every minute we waste gives Zarkon time to prepare for us," Pidge announced, sharing Shiro's need for urgency.

Hunk chimed in with his usual insecurities, "Um, do you guys not remember the Balmera? We could barely take out one Galra fleet. But this... a base this size could hold a thousand fleets!"

He wasn't wrong. This was a threat that was definitely beyond them. However, this wasn't going to be a full-on battle. It was a rescue mission, and it would require significantly less combat strength to pull off. However, it would require a whole lot more finesse and skill. They just needed a solid plan and the ability to get away as quickly as possible to pull this off.

"Maybe… maybe we shouldn't go on this mission at all," Keith said aloud.

"You can't be serious?" Adam asked. He never thought he'd hear something like that come from Keith's mouth. He was always so adamant about not leaving people behind, especially when it came to Shiro. It was a psychological trait that had been instilled in him going all the way back to his mother walking out on his family right after he was born. At least, that was how Keith described it to him.

"Think about it," he continued, "We'll be delivering the universe's only hope to the universe's biggest enemy."

That was true, but Keith hadn't really expressed this kind of mentality before. It was a soldier's mentality, one that considered tactical strategy and the greater good over personal sentiment and emotion. It had never been Keith's style. He was usually defiant towards authority, only ever really falling in line when Shiro urged him to. So what was bringing on this sudden change?

Hunk appeared the most visibly hurt by his suggestion, speaking out against him, "Keith, that's cold, even for you. What if it was one of us? What if it was me? You wouldn't leave me behind, would you?"

Keith crossed his arms, becoming defensive at Hunk's accusatory tone, "I'm not saying I like the idea. I'm just… thinking like a paladin."

Interesting. Adam had to admit he was a little impressed with the stance he was taking. It took a lot of strength and conviction to even consider leaving someone behind. Despite a few tense interactions and there brief reconciliations, Adam and Keith hadn't talked much since he was kicked out over a year ago. Had he really grown that much since then? He was putting his own personal feelings aside and was actually taking on the responsibility of being part of this team. When he got upset over Pidge wanting to leave, Adam had just assumed it had been because of his issues with abandonment and difficulty adjusting to complex group dynamics. But maybe it wasn't that. Maybe, just like Shiro, he found a purpose here…

"No, you're thinking of yourself because you're too scared to do what's right!" Lance blew up at Keith. His affection toward Allura was clearly influencing his mood, but so was his fear. Until now, the battle against the Galra probably felt more like an epic battle, instead of the all-out war it really was. But seeing the reality of Zarkon's forces, and losing a friend to the enemy, it all became clear to him. And it scared him, causing him to lash out with no remorse.

"That's not what I…" Keith tried to speak in defense of himself, but Lance wouldn't let up.

"And then you ran off by yourself while we were on that base! If we didn't have to pick you back up, then maybe we could have gotten to them in time! Maybe we could have saved Allura!"

"Even I have to admit that was reckless of you Keith," Shiro said, his disappointment evident. His tone was calmer to curtail Lance's outburst, but he wasn't exactly disagreeing or reprimanding him for it either, "You should have told me what you we're gonna do," he told him.

Keith bowed his head in shame. If there was anyone who could hurt Keith with disappointment, it was Shiro, and probably Shiro alone.

Coran finally spoke up for the first time since they all entered, "Yes, but Keith's actions gained us valuable information. The Galra are somehow managing to collect quintessence, a form of raw life energy," he informed them. Keith had apparently been in direct contact with Coran the whole time when he ran off to investigate. So he wasn't as reckless as everyone thought. He was letting Adam and Shiro carry out their mission without distraction, but was still keeping the next person he saw as an authority figure informed of his actions.

"And he's right," Adam said, coming to Keith's defense. He was being reasonable, but everyone was so upset that they were starting to turn on him. That was unnecessary, especially since Keith was making very valid points, "If we mess this up, then we could lose everything."

"I thought you wanted to save Allura too!?" Lance yelled at him.

"Of course I want to save her, for multiple reasons. I'm just saying we can't leave any room for mistakes," Adam corrected, warning Lance to back off with his tone. He liked the kid a lot, but he wasn't gonna just let him blow up on everyone.

"But if we take too long we could miss our shot," Hunk reasoned. He wanted to save her too, but wanted to minimize the potential danger as much as possible if they were going to do this. But given the tense nature of the conversation, it sounded like he was countering Adam.

"Okay, we're all upset because we lost Allura," Pidge said, trying to stop everyone from arguing and be the voice of reason.

"No, I lost Allura!" Shiro corrected her, with surprising bitterness.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Adam asked him, slightly offended. He had been there too, and he had failed her just as much as Shiro had. Why was he acting like Adam had no part in what happened?

"Okay, okay!" Pidge practically screamed, "This isn't helping. We can't just sit here and bicker like this."

"She's right. If we're doing this, let's focus on coming up with a plan," Keith agreed.

Both tensions and emotions were high, but they all put them aside for the sake of saving one of their own. They broke up into groups, trying to figure out the best course of action and use of their time. Pidge went off on her own to finish examining the data. Hunk and Lance went off together, half for Hunk to look for any structural weaknesses in Zarkon's command ship, and half so Hunk could calm down his friend. Shiro went about examining the schematics, and Keith walked off with Coran, probably to further to discuss what he found on the galactic hub. Adam would have to remember to ask what quintessence was at a later time. What really concerned him at this moment was how everyone went their separate ways.

Adam had to admit he was shocked at how quickly everyone seemed to fall apart without Allura here. Every time he lost someone, it was never like this. Losing Shiro, his friends constantly supported him and gave their sympathy. The same happened when he lost his brother. And now seeing everyone devolve like this just showed him how really important she was to this group dynamic. But as he thought about it, he realized they all had something in common. Every single one of them was in new, unfamiliar territory being part of this war. And sharing that inexperience meant they all only had one another to rely on for support, allowing them to bond quickly. In a few weeks, they all had become so close, and losing one person was like losing a limb. A feeling Adam could relate to.

 **VVVVVVVV**

"Pidge, can you do me a favor?" Adam asked, coming over to her as she poured through the data.

"Right now?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow to express the inappropriateness of his timing.

"I know it's not the best time, but can you reexamine the data you downloaded? I think there was information about my brother in there," he told her honestly.

"Your brother?" Pidge was surprised, but in the back of her mind it made sense. The conversations they had before about loss were always about someone important to him, but he never explicitly stated who it was. Now it was starting to become clear.

Adam figured he didn't need to hide anything from her. He already knew all about her identity, her brother, and the measures she took to get here. He could trust her with this, especially given her own familial ties.

"I'll explain everything later," he ushered her past that point. Asking her this favor was already a press on their precious time, "Can you please look? If he's still alive and on Zarkon's central command ship… I have to know," he urged her.

"I'll see what I can find," she nodded. She of all people knew how important this was. She had ran her own search for her family when she initially downloaded the data, but hadn't thought to look for others. The least she could do was check for Adam, considering how much he supported her and her own search.

"Thank you Pidge," he looked up, seeing Shiro by himself, transfixed on the layout of Zarkon's command system. Adam stood up tall, walking toward him, "I'll be right back," he called back to Pidge.

Shiro glanced up briefly, seeing Adam approach him, but kept his eyes on the schematics projected in front of him, "Adam, good. Can you help me go over these schematics to look for a way in?"

"What was that back there Takashi?" Adam said accusingly. He wanted to get to the bottom of Shiro's little outburst during their group meeting.

Shiro sighed, placing his hands on his hips and facing him, "Look, I know I'm being a little short with everyone, but every second counts if we're gonna pull this off. The element of surprise is going to be our greatest asset."

Adam shook his head, already aware of that particular fact, "That's not what I'm talking about. Earlier, you said 'I' lost Allura. Like it was your fault."

"Because I did lose her," Shiro said bitterly, turning away from Adam and going back to the schematics. He was deflecting.

Adam walked around to his side, leaning over the plans and staring daggers into the side of Shiro's face. He wasn't going to let him ignore this, "I was there with you Takashi. We both lost her."

"No, you didn't!" Shiro raised his voice slightly, bolting upright so fast he almost scared Adam. His eyes were full of anger and regret, a look Adam had never seen from him before. The only time he had seen such a fierce expression, was when he would look at himself in the mirror. But such a pained look didn't suit the man he loved.

"Takashi, it wasn't your fault. We all tried our hardest to get out of there," Adam assured him. He could handle this. Now that Shiro was venting and wasn't bottling it up inside, he could talk him through this.

Shiro just shook his head, "You were trying to get all of us out by stalling the escape pod, but I was the one right there with her. If I had been faster, or made her run ahead without me… something. I should have been able to do something!"

Shiro's voice got steadily louder. Luckily they were on the far side of the bridge, and everyone was engrossed in their own activities, so it didn't garner much attention. Of course, Keith looked up over at them in concern, which wasn't much of a surprise. He didn't need to worry though. Shiro was just being hard on himself, and Adam wasn't about to let him wallow in regrets.

Adam cupped Shiro's face, forcing him to look him in the eyes, "Look at me!" Shiro froze under his touch, letting himself be pulled deep into his hazel green eyes, "There is _nothing_ you could have done. Saving you was her choice, and you can't take that away from her. Sometimes bad things just happen, and you can't get hung up on what could've gone different. You can only focus on what you can do now."

"That… That's what I told you.. when you told me about your brother," Shiro whispered out.

Adam smirked softly, dropping his hands from Shiro's face, "You have good advice sometimes. I just wish I could follow it myself," he admitted sheepishly. He always had a stubborn personality. Even when he really wanted to dedicate himself to the advice his friends and loved ones gave him, he couldn't help but do his own thing.

"I can't believe you remembered that," Shiro said in disbelief, his eyes and body language softening.

Adam gave him a small smile. Did he really not know?

"I remember everything you told me. You came into my life when I needed you most, and you told me all the things I needed to hear. You'll always be important to me because of that."

Adam never liked being told what to do, but with Shiro, he actually tried to listen to him. From other people, it felt like they were trying to control him and dictate his actions. Its part of the reason he didn't want to go the Garrison. He only put up with it because he felt like he owed it to his brother to follow in his footsteps after he disappeared. Mostly it was because Adam blamed himself for his death, and he wanted to make amends by working with the people who knew his brother and helped provide for them when they needed it. Aiden would have liked that.

But with Takashi, it was different. He didn't feel like he owed anything to him, and he didn't feel like Shiro was trying to tell him how to feel or act. When Shiro gave him advice, it felt genuine, coming from a place of love and concern. Like the only thing he ever wanted, was just to help. Adam appreciated that, and it's why he wanted to try and follow whatever Shiro told him. But Adam came to find that deep-seated pain and regret don't just go away so easily. But even so, Shiro's words of love and encouragement helped eased his suffering. And that smothering feeling of grief and responsibility suddenly became lighter, and even bearable at times.

"I didn't do anything special," Shiro dropped his gaze, his cheeks turning ever so slightly pink. It wasn't unusual for him to receive praise, but he couldn't help but be flustered at Adam's genuinely kind words. He rarely spoke so honestly, resigning himself to sarcasm and playful teasing.

"God, you can be so thick headed sometimes," Adam scoffed.

"Huh?" Shiro asked, looking up at him like a lost puppy.

Adam rolled his eyes, reaching out with his metallic arm to grab Shiro's, their fingers clinking softly together as they touched. He looked into his soft brown eyes, letting him know serious he was, "Come on, Takashi. Haven't you realized it by now? You're my source. Whenever I reach deep down inside myself and do something I think I'm not capable of, it's because of you."

Shiro lifted their joined hands up, pressing them against one another, palm to palm.

"You don't need me. You've always been amazing on your own. I just helped remind you of that," Shiro said, looking at their hands as he spoke. It was such a simple contact, yet it felt so intimate. They both went through so much pain, together, and apart. After a moment, they looked deeply at one another. Soft brown eyes met sparking hazel.

Was Shiro right? Adam was usually blind when it came to himself. He wanted to mull the idea over, but.. he was too distracted by what was happening right now. Being so close to Shiro like this, it was like the rest of the world was slipping away. Feeling his touch, being under his gaze, somehow this felt like the closest they had been in over a year. And it was intoxicating. Adam felt his eyelids get heavy, his body instinctually drifting toward the larger man.

"Adam! I think I found something!"

Both Adam and Shiro were snapped out of their daze as Pidge's voice came calling out to them. Adam pulled his hand away, immediately pressing it against his chest to try and fidget with his necklace, forgetting he had tucked under his underarmor.

"I should…" he dropped his own hand, feeling his own face flush red.

Shiro took a step back, scratcihing the back of his head, "Right, I'll just…uh… look over these plans."

Adam nodded, and then headed back over to Pidge. Shiro rested his hands on the table and slouched over the schematics, taking a deep sigh. Shit, Shit, Shit. How was he supposed to control himself and concede to friendship when they kept having moments like that? It's like they were inevitably pulled to each other. He needed to control himself better than that if they were going to move on from their past. This wasn't even the time for this! They had a friend they needed to save. Shiro shook it off, putting his focus back where it needed to be.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Handcuffed, Allura was brought onto Zarkon's central command ship. Dragged in by two guards, she was thrown down onto her knees before his throne.

"Princess Allura," a deep, raspy voice called out gleefully.

She looked up at him, seeing the creature that had taken everything away from her. He was fully dressed in dark purple and black armor, only his face showing through. His eyes glowed an inhuman white, and his skin was a pale grey. He looked nothing like the man she had known all those years ago. The witch Haggar stood by his side, dressed in her dark cloak and seemingly taking very little interest in Allura. But Allura could care less about her either right now.

"You monster! You destroyed Altea!" Allura screamed, anger and despair overtaking her, "Voltron is going to put an end to your empire!"

Zarkon chuckled darkly, "No, it will only make me more powerful. Your father knew that as well as I. That's why he led me to believe he destroyed it all those years ago. But now, your new paladins will come for you, and they will deliver Voltron to me, and, with it, the key to unimaginable power."

No. They couldn't. She didn't give herself up just so they could stage a stupid rescue mission. They needed to keep Voltron far away from here! They wouldn't really come for her, would they?

 **VVVVVVVV**

"Anything?" Shiro asked, walking over to Lance and Coran who were busy looking for a covert way into the system where Zarkon's ship was. Keith had joined Pidge to help her look over some of the lengthier documents and data to speed up the process, and Hunk was looking over the strengths and weaknesses in their enemy's artillery.

"There's just no way in. They'll have us tracked from every direction," Lance said, gesturing to the surrounding ships and planets.

Makes sense that Zarkon would choose a solar system with the least openings, but nothing was infallible. It couldn't be, "There's gotta be something. Keep looking."

Lance scratched his head, deciding to go back over to Hunk for another perspective. Coran stayed put, looking even more disheartened as he combed through the solar map once again.

Seeing him like this, Shiro felt bad that he wasn't more comforting earlier. Even though he believed they would rescue her, that didn't mean the others didn't need comfort. That much should have been obvious when they all started yelling at one another, "I know you're worried about her. We all are. I'm sorry I let her slip away."

Coran looked up at him, sad but appreciative, "I know it's not your fault. It's just... I've already lost so much. I can't lose Allura, too."

Shiro nodded. Of course. She was all he had left, the only connection he had back to his old life and old world. Shiro should have been more sensitive to that. It wasn't the first time he helped someone through that kind of pain.

"We'll find a way to get her back," Shiro sighed, absentmindedly running his hand through one of the planets on the solar map, "If there was just a way to get close to Zarkon's ship unseen..."

Coran watched Shiro's actions intently, an idea sparking in his mind, "Wait a tick. I think I've got a way!" he yelled, running away from the map back toward one of the main computer terminals.

 **VVVVVVVV**

"Are you sure?" Adam asked, his voice riddled with heartbreak and despair.

He was leaning over Pidge's chair, staring at the computer console with all the Galra information on their prisoners. The screen had a picture of his brother Aiden, looking much more tired and worn down than he had ever seen him before. There were some cuts and scraps across his face, and splatters of blood on his neck.

In big bold letters, written over Aiden's picture were the words, **GLADIATOR STATUS: TERMINATED**

"I'm sorry Adam," Pidge said somberly, resting a hand against his arm.

Adam stood up tall, pulling away from her touch. He shouldn't be surprised. It had been nearly a decade. It was always going to end up like this, "It was a long shot anyway. I just… I hoped….." Adam's voice cracked, and he took a deep breath. _Compartmentalize. Do it. This is nothing new_ , Adam told himself. He steadied himself, turning back to Pidge seriously, "Keep this between us for now, okay?"

"But…" she started to protest. He knew she would want him to deal with this properly given her own family situation and how much she came to care for him, but they didn't have time for that right now.

"Please, Pidge. We should focus on who can save right now. My problems can wait until this is over. Okay?" he insisted.

Pidge looked unsure, but she trusted him, "Okay."

Once this was over, and Allura was saved, he would cut loose. He would cry and scream, and throw a tantrum over the hope that was so quickly given to him and taken away. He should have known how this would turn out, but that didn't stop it from hurting. He just needed to utilize his years of experience and training to suppress his emotions until it was appropriate to let them out.

"Everyone, eyes front. We've got a plan to get Allura," Shiro called out, making everyone gather in the center of the bridge, "We're going to wormhole jump to the heart of the enemy, unseen and undetected."

"I thought we needed Allura to open up a wormhole," Pidge inquired, pointing out Allura's magical connection to the castle.

Coran stepped in to explain, "It's true that Allura powers the Castle's ability to travel through wormholes. However, I think we have enough of her residual essence stored in the system to make one jump," he pulled up the holographic map once again for everyone to see, pointing toward a small yellow planet, "We'll hide the Castle here, inside this giant gas planet in Zarkon's command system. The gas is so dense, we'll be hidden from his sensors."

"From there, we'll use the Castle to scan for Allura on Zarkon's ship and attack before Zarkon knows what hit him," Shiro said.

"There's only one hiccup. We have enough energy to wormhole in, but, without Allura, we won't have enough energy to wormhole out," Coran said.

"It doesn't matter. We're not leaving without her," Shiro said resolute, his body language puffing up with authority. He wasn't going to take any other answer. He turned to the team, ordering them out, "Lets's all get prepped."

"Adam, may I speak with you for a moment?" Coran said, walking up to him while the others ran off to ready their gear.

"Don't you need to get the castle ready for the jump?" he asked.

"It'll take a few ticks for the castle to gather up the remaining energy. We have time," he assured him.

"Alright then," Adam shrugged, following Coran off the bridge.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Adam followed Coran into the equipment room where they stored their armor and weapons. Whoops. That reminded him, he needed to give Coran that broken prototype back. Everything happened so fast, he ended leaving the broken pieces on the escape shuttle.

"I had some time to work while you all were on the galactic hub, and I believe I've finally finished your weapon," Coran said proudly, walking over to one of the drawers.

"Really? I thought it would have taken you longer," he said in disbelief.

"Well, I work when I'm stressed, and Allura going down there with you…" Coran trailed off, not wanting to think about how his worst fear had ended up coming true.

"Right," Adam sighed. God, that was a feeling he could relate to if any, "We're gonna get her back Coran. Takashi believes we can do it, and I believe in him."

"I'm glad," Coran said, surprising Adam with a small smile, "When you first got here, you didn't seem to believe in much."

Well, that was fair. It was a lot to take in at once. An evil alien empire, magical lion robots, and futuristic technology from the past? That would be a lot for anyone to take in. And for a stubborn ass like Adam, it took being reunited with his lost love and being nearly impaled to death for him to finally come to terms with it all.

"Don't get me wrong, I still hate being out in space for several reasons, but I've come to care about the people here. I'll do whatever I have to in order to save them, and that includes Allura," Adam declared assuredly.

"Well, maybe this will help," Coran turned to him, holding out a flat circular disk with a small handle running down the center. The handle itself was black with orange seams, which meant it had to be made from the leftover components of his original weapon prototype. The circular disk matched his paladin armor, being primarily white with purple accents. Coran handed it over to him, "Go on, take it for a test run."

Adam grabbed it in his human hand, feeling the rush of energy pulse down his arm. It was so small and light, but he could feel so much potential in this weapon. He held it up, focusing his mind into the weapon he wanted. In an instant, it transformed around his hand, extending out into a staff with an axe and a hook on one end and a pointed spear tip. He took a few practice swings with his newly reformed halberd, making Coran take a few steps back out of the way. Adam twisted the staff in his arms, getting into a sword fighting stance as he focused on changing the weapon once again. This time it tuned into a curved black blade with a purple and white handle, resembling a traditional katana. He took a quick slash through the air, the blade then straightening out and getting longer to resemble a great sword.

"Coran, this is amazing!" Adam exclaimed, shrinking his weapon back into its disc form and clipping it to his belt.

"It's attuned to the mechanics in your arm, so you should be the only one capable of using it," Coran explained.

That was handy. So it couldn't be used against him in a combat situation, but Adam had to wonder what the extent of that limitation was. He was using this weapon and transforming it without even touching it with his prosthetic arm, which means it didn't need direct contact to work. So, was it more based off the neural link his arm had to his mind, and therefore the rest of his body; or was it more proximity based? He could ask, but there was a good chance Coran himself didn't know.

"How resilient is it?" Adam asked, thinking back to the two previous weapons he destroyed.

"I constructed it with the best materials possible. It should be near indestructible, even in its base form. I think you'll find good use for it," he said proudly.

Well, at least he could actually keep this one.

"I look forward to figuring out what this baby can really do," Adam smiled. Having a weapon like this would definitely improve his combat prowess in the field. Shiro was always adapt at hand-to-hand combat, but Adam had a preference for using weapons. And being a jack of all trades, he had the experience to use multiple weapons with various advantages.

"There is a limitation to it though," Coran informed him, "I designed it to become any hand-held weapon you can imagine, but it can't fire any projectiles."

"So no guns then?" Hmm, that figured. As nice as this was, it still technically wasn't on par with the bayards that the others had. Still, it's not like Adam needed a gun to fight.

"Well, I suppose you could make it look like one if you wanted to, but it wouldn't fire," Coran shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't worry, I can make this work," Adam waved him off assuredly. He was more of a melee fighter anyway. Plus, having an entire arsenal of weapons in his hand at once would increase his effectiveness, and even open him up to new techniques. He wouldn't have to limit himself to one type of weapon, even if he had a personal preference toward his halberd.

Shiro's voice rang out over the intercom, "Coran, Adam, come back to the bridge. We're ready,"

"This is it," Coran took a shaky breath, his nerves starting to get ahold of him.

"Let's go save the princess," Adam declared, ready for a fight more than ever.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Once they got back to the bridge, Coran opened up the wormhole and moved the castle into the through it into the gas planet in Zarkon's system. There was no turning back now.

"We're here," Shiro said.

Coran immediately began scanning once they reached the other side, "I'm detecting Allura's energy signature. From this distance, the signal's pretty weak, but she's somewhere in Zarkon's main ship."

"Well that's typical," Adam said sarcastically.

"Gives us a starting point," Keith shrugged at him, putting a positive spin on his sentiment.

"Once we get closer, we'll be able to narrow down the location where the Princess is being held," Coran assured him.

So nothing was certain until that started their attack? That was a comforting thought. But they were too far into this now to start having second thoughts.

"Okay, guys, this is it. Voltron is going to come in fast and without warning. We'll smash our way into Zarkon's ship and grab Allura. Before they know what hit them, we'll have the Princess and be on our way."

"I'm riding with you Takashi," Adam insisted.

"Actually…" Shiro started.

Adam cut in, getting a little tired of this song and dance, "I know what you're gonna say, and I don't care. I'm not gonna sit back while you ride in there, guns blazing. I'm coming with you."

Shiro half-smiled and sighed, "Actually, I was gonna suggest the same thing."

"Oh… well good," Adam said, feeling a little awkward that he got all worked up for nothing.

"We need all hands on-deck," Shiro told him, "Once we break up the majority of Zarkon's forces and locate her, the plan is to break up back into our lions and separate to keep them off balance. During that time, I'll drop you off near Allura's location."

"So, a tactical snatch and grab?" Adam interpreted, familiar with some of the training strategies and tactics they would practice together in the Garrison.

Shiro nodded, "I trust you to handle whatever might be in there; but stay on comms in case you run into trouble. Once you have her, whichever one of us is closer will pick you up and we'll wormhole out before they know what hit them."

"Great. I'm looking forward to dishing out a little pain," Adam said calmly, hiding the bitterness underneath. Finding out about his brother left him angry and devastated, and what was more, he couldn't even deal with those emotions while they were in the middle of this rescue mission! Letting off some steam by bashing in some enemies faces sounded like just what he needed right now.

"Then let's head out!" Shiro barked, everyone running off to their lions to save their friend.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Adam climbed into the Black Lion after Shiro, standing behind his pilot seat so he could brace himself and hold onto it during flight. The lions all jumped out of the castle's hangar bay, the paladins getting into their formation to form Voltron. It was such a strange experience. One moment they were flying in a giant mechanical lion, but in the next they had joined together with all the others and created a large humanoid machine. Adam thought the inside would have changed somehow when the lions all fused together. But there was absolutely no indication of it, aside from the force and mechanical clangs of all the parts coming together. That would explain why having a strong bond and psychic connection with the lions and each other was so important.

Now that Voltron was formed, they all charged together right toward Zarkon's ship. As they did, two large streams of energy shot out of the ship from the top and bottom. The energy extended out, creating a giant purple orb that encased the entirety of Zarkon's command system, even the gas planet where the castle of lions was hiding.

"What is that?" Hunk asked, alarmed at the prospect of being trapped.

"I don't know, but I hope once we get the Princess, we can find a way out of here," Pidge said.

Luckily this strange field encased everything, so they could still get back to the castle once they got Allura. Still, the fact that this thing was activated the second they rushed into their system was alarming.

"They're going to fire!" Keith yelled, paying attention to the formation of the larger ships and cruisers.

They all swerved out of the oncoming blasts, landing directly on one of the cruisers that was ahead of them in a matter of seconds.

"Form sword!" Shiro yelled.

Once he yelled that, a flash of light shined from the red lion, and a giant sword was in Voltron's hands. They stabbed through the ship they were standing on, taking off and dragging the sword along the ship from end to end. They pulled away, and moments after they did the entire cruiser exploded. Adam had to admit, this was amazing. Seeing the sheer force and power that was at their hands, flying through the sky and ripping apart their enemies in an instant. It was no wonder this thing was so highly coveted by everyone. They spent the next minute, ripping apart ship after ship, moving toward the center of the system at an impressive rate. In no time at all, they were very near their goal.

"There's Zarkon's ship!" Shiro shouted, pushing Voltron to its max speed.

They rushed toward the command center, but came to a quick and jarring stop. The force made Adam drop to his knees next to Shiro's chair. Shiro grunted with effort, seemingly affected by Voltron's sudden stop. All of them were caught off guard, like some outside force was pressing against them.

"What's going on?" Adam yelled.

"We lost the sword! Something's malfunctioning!" he heard Keith yell over the comms. Adam looked over at the right arm, seeing it had in fact disappeared. What the hell was happening? This was supposed to be the most advanced and powerful weapon there was. There's no way a malfunction was causing all of this.

"Somebody do something! Voltron's frozen up!" Lance screamed, his voice also straining with effort.

"Shiro! I can't hold it!" Keith cried.

Then just like that, Voltron completely split apart. It was like some concussive force just smashed into them and broke their connection. Each lion drifted away from one another just underneath the mothership.

"What just happened there? Something tore us apart!" Hunk yelled out in a panic.

"I don't know, but we've got bigger problems right now. Look!" Lance screamed.

After shaking off the sudden shock, everyone steadied themselves and looked over to see what had Lance so panicked. Across the system, every large cruiser and mechanism was releasing hordes of drones and small fighter ships. The red streak from their engines cut across the sky like a wave, ready to crash down on all of them.

"Why do I get the feeling these guys knew we were coming?" Keith said with bitter realization.

As the enemies got closer, they all broke up to evade and fight back. Distracted by all the oncoming enemies, no one noticed that the Black Lion was immobile and being pulled into Zarkon's ship.

"Takashi, get us out of here!" Adam yelled.

But all Shiro could do was groan in response, pushing against the controls with no success. It was like he was stuck, and all they could do was drift through space.

"Shiro, are you okay?" Keith called out, the first to notice that they weren't moving.

"Something is overriding the controls! My Lion is not responding!" Shiro said through gritted teeth. It was like he was fighting against his own ship on more than just a physical level. He grunted and cried out a little, whatever was affecting him clearly winning.

Adam reached out toward him, planning on checking his vitals when without warning, the Black Lion began shaking furiously, throwing Shiro from his chair. In one instant they were being tossed into the air, and the next they were being thrown from the Black Lion entirely. It had ejected them and spit them out, sending them spiraling into deep space.

"Takashi!" Adam screamed, panic immediately overtaking him as he was thrown into the dark depths.

Shiro's mind was a little foggy from trying to hold onto his connection to the Black Lion and Voltron, only able to focus on Adam's desperate call. He reached out, grabbing Adam's arm and pulling him into his body. He held him tight, feeling the smaller man breathing heavily against him. They activated their thruster packs, steadying themselves and keeping them from spinning out. A feature Adam wished he had known about during their mission to retrieve the black lion.

Keeping an eye on them during the assault, Keith called out to the others, "Shiro and Adam are in trouble! I'm going in!"

"You cannot fight it. Your connection is weak," Shiro heard a deep gravely voice ringing in his ears. What the hell was that?

"What happened!?" Adam yelled, clinging to Shiro as they floated out in open space.

A Galra fighter jet zoomed by them, the red lion following soon after as Keith chased it off. They were completely exposed like this, but at least Keith was keeping enemies off them.

"We have to get out of the line of fire!" Shiro yelled, pointing toward Zarkon's central command ship.

If they used the thrusters on their armor to propel toward the ship, they could huddle against the exterior for cover. The Galra wouldn't risk firing on their own central command. Adam clung to Shiro as they propelled themselves away from the battle, gripping his arms tightly with his hands. It gave them a slight boost in their propulsion, but he mostly held onto him out of fear. He still had a deep-seated psychological fear of being in open space, and with no surface to cling to, his anxiety was starting to skyrocket. Being close to Shiro was the only thing keeping him calm right now.

"What do we do now, guys? Our plan isn't really working out as... well, planned!" Hunk grunted, trying to fight off as many enemies as he could. He was taking them out slowly, but was taking a lot of hits as well.

"I'm going for the Black Lion. You guys get the Princess, now!" Keith told them. No argued the point. They needed to get Allura out immediately, and they couldn't let the Black Lion be taken either.

"I've identified Allura's exact location. Uploading the coordinates to you now," Coran told them, bringing the castle out from behind cover. He activated the particle barrier and automated weapons, quickly dispatching a large amount of the forces that was overwhelming them and grabbing their atteniton, "In the meantime, I'll provide covering fire from out here… all alone… against an entire fleet. So, yeah, do you mind hurrying?"

Once Adam and Shiro reached the surface of the ship, they pulled up the location beacon on their visors. They headed toward the location pin, Adam feeling a lot more comfortable now that he was moving along a solid surface. However, after a minute he noticed that Shiro was trailing behind him at half speed.

He stopped, turning around and waiting for him to catch up, "Takashi, come on! What's wrong?"

"My jetpack's damaged. I need to go through the ship," he answered.

Adam looked at his back, seeing sparks coming out of one of the engines. It must have got hit when they were thrown from the Black Lion. They wouldn't be able to reach Allura's location in time at this rate. And Shiro wouldn't be able to control where he was going since it could completely shut down any second now, which would leave him drifting back into space. Going inside through the ship was his best, and only option.

Adam grabbed Shiro's hand, activating his pack and pulling him along, "Come on, there should be an access hatch around here somewhere."

"Adam, you should just go on ahead. I'll catch up."

Adam huffed in irritation, "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not leaving you."

 _Stubborn ass_ , Shiro thought to himself. If it wasn't for the tense situation they were in, he would have chuckled. Instead he settled for a happy, but exasperated sigh, "Alight," Shiro activated his comms while they floated along, "Adam and I are going through the ship. Everyone else, move in. If you have a shot at getting Allura, take it! We can't afford to lose her now."

Everyone clamored in acknowledgement, continuing to fight off the Galra. Keith continued to fight off some of the Galra, making his way toward the Black Lion.

"You guys get the Princess without me," he announced to the others.

Lance chimed in, voice slightly panicked. Was he seriously doing this again? "What? We've got to stick together! What are you doing?"

"Whatever I can."

 **VVVVVVVV**

Adam and Shiro dropped onto one of the floors on Zarkon's ship after Shiro cut open an access hatch with his arm. They deactivated their visors, no longer needing to keep their helmets sealed now that they were inside. Adam pulled up Allura's location pin on the small holographic projector on his wrist. The layout of the schematics showed she was several floors below, and quite a ways down the corridor.

"I've got her, let's move," Adam said.

They took off down the hall. Luckily their path was clear, most of the soldiers being diverted outside like they planned. Still, they needed to hurry. Coran and the others would only be able to fight them off for so long.

They quickly reached a large open hangar bay, the elevators just a few rooms ahead. They ran quickly down the hall, the sound of a loud metal clang behind them making them freeze and whirl around to see what it was. The giant hangar door had dropped behind them, sealing them in. They turned back to the doors in front of them, but someone stood in front of the exit, appearing as if by magic and blocking their path. They were hunched over in a dark purple cloak, glowing yellow eyes and long white hair the only discernable features from this distance. It looked like another one of those druids, except this one didn't wear a mask. How the hell did it find them so quickly?

"So, Champion returns," a woman's gravely voice called out to them, taunting Shiro.

"You.." Shiro breathed out in recognition, his body tensing.

Wait. Everyone had mentioned learning about a witch while Adam was unconscious. One that was the leader of the druids, and the person in charge of the experiments on captured prisoners.

"Takashi, is this…?"

"It's the witch. She's the one that experimented on us. Haggar," Shiro affirmed, his voice shaky. Being face to face with this monster again was probably triggering him. His memories were his greatest enemy, and seeing the Witch was no doubt bringing some back.

But Shiro wasn't in a full-on panic attack, so he was retaining a semblance of control. His singular focus on the mission, and knowing he had Adam by his side the only things keeping him from completely losing it.

"I made you strong," Haggar taunted, stepping closer to them.

Adam say Shiro take an instinctual step back, and it pissed him off. This witch experimented on Shiro. Tortured him. Took his arm, and brought him suffering that traumatized him so bad he refused to remember it. Not only that, but she conducted experiments on all the prisoners they acquired. She was one of the reasons the Galra even bothered to take prisoners. So they could fight in the ring, and then she could take her pick of the most promising fighters. Just like Shiro. Just like Aiden.

His anger rising, Adam, took a step towards her, readying his weapon, "You…. you're the reason Shiro was captured. You're the reason my brother went missing. You're the one who took them away from me," Adam felt his blood boil, extending his weapon into a giant halberd and charging at her, "And you're gonna pay!" he roared.

"Adam!" Shiro screamed, alarmed by his reckless attack against an incredibly powerful enemy.

 **VVVVVVVV**

"This is it! The Princess is in this part of the ship!" Hunk yelled, circling one of the branches, blasting two fighters that were in his way.

"How do we get in?" Lance asked, expertly swerving around and keeping firing at the stray fighters that were tailing him. Luckily Coran was taking most of the fire.

"Maybe I can try hacking one of their cargo bays," Pidge suggested.

"We don't have time for that!" Hunk yelled. Adam and Shiro were already inside, Keith was in the middle of some kind of fight at the center of the ship, and all of them were swarmed.

"Do you have a better idea?" Pidge yelled.

"Actually, yes, I do."

Hunk took the head of his lion and charged right toward the ship, crashing into it and lodging the head of the Yellow Lion into the prisoner hall. Hunk grabbed his bayard and jumped out of the mouth of his lion, creating his cannon-like gatling gun and taking down the two guards posted in front of Allura's door.

"Looks like we've got to cover Hunk's butt!" Lance called out, both him and Pidge flying in formation around him to keep enemies off his tail, literally.

Hunk activated a powerful laser from his cannon, carving a giant hole in Allura's door. Once it collapsed back, he saw her sitting on the ground. She rose to her feet at the sight of him.

"Hunk!" she cried.

"We're going to get you out of here," he said, holding out a hand to her.

"What are you doing here? Tell me you didn't bring Voltron straight to Zarkon's central command!" No. This couldn't be right. They couldn't really have risked everything just for her? If they did… Wait, "Where's the Black Lion? Where's Shiro?"

Hunk was surprised she wasn't rushing to get out of here. The way she was talking, it was like she knew something, "His Lion started acting weird. He had to go with Adam into the ship to…"

"We have to get to him!" Allura yelled, taking off down the hall. Having just been guided to her cell, she knew the way back. And if Shiro and Adam were on their way toward her, then they had to be close by.

"Hunk, did you get the Princess?" Lance asked as Hunk trailed after her.

"I got her, but there's a change of plans!"

 **VVVVVVVV**

Adam swiped at Haggar once again, her body teleporting out of the way, but staying nearby for him to strike at.

"Stay still you evil bitch!" he roared.

"Adam! You have to focus!" Shiro yelled at him.

Adam was attacking wildly and without control, and Haggar was baiting him. Every time she teleported out of the way, she remained near him to give him the chance to strike again. Hearing Shiro's desperate pleas, Haggar teleported behind him.

"I made you strong and this is how you repay me?" she hissed.

Shiro powered up his arm and swiped at her, making her vanish, "I never wanted anything from you!"

"You could have been one of our greatest weapons. Now, I will destroy you," she reappeared in the center of the room, goading them into attacking her.

"Not before I do!" Adam screamed, turning his weapon into a katana for more agile strikes over strength and reach.

Haggar continued to dodge his attacks with ease, cackling. This sick bitch thought this was funny, and it was just pissing him off more!

"Your revenge is pointless," she said.

"You killed my brother!" Adam screamed, his anger rising to a point that tears started to flow from his eyes.

It was the Galra's fault. It was her fault. Wanting prisoners to fight for their entertainment, for their experiments. The only thing his brother ever wanted was to travel through space, and see the stars. A boyhood dream that got him through the rough nights, and gave him hope while having to care for his young brother in the orphanage. And the second he got that chance, they took him and put him through hell until the day he died. They perverted his dream and took away the one thing he deserved!

"You know nothing," she spat out hauntingly, her body nowhere to be seen after teleporting away from his slash.

Adam braced himself, waiting for her to reappear. This was getting him nowhere. He needed to find her opening before she even knew she was giving herself away. Adam held his katana out in his hands, ready to strike the moment he knew where she was.

"Adam! You have…"

"Stay back Takashi!" Adam yelled. There was no way he was going to let Shiro take this away from him.

Adam's eyes burned with a ferocity Shiro had never seen before, and it scared him. He had never felt that way about Adam before, but he didn't know what else to do. If he got in the middle of this fight, he might distract him and end up getting both of them killed. But if he did nothing, Adam might lose himself to his anger and get himself killed. What should he do? Why couldn't he think right now? Why was he so frozen with fear!?

A slight rush of air blew at the back of Adam's neck, a silent signal of the witch's presence. Adam twisted the blade in his hands, turning it towards him and thrusting it back under his arm with all his force. He could feel the slight resistance of flesh against his blade, Haggar gasping out behind him. He looked over his shoulder, seeing her horrified expression as purple blood poured down her cloak.

"You lose," Adam spat out. His voice hollow and unrecognizable.

He twisted the blade and pulled it out, spinning on his heel and chopping off her head. Her body crumbled to the ground, Adam standing over it darkly. He collapsed his weapon back into its base form, breathing deeply and waiting for his anger to subside.

But before he had the chance to savor his vengeance, the sound of the doors opening across the room startled him. He brought his left arm up, a half-dome shield forming in front of him to block any oncoming attack. But the sight before him completely rocked Adam to his core, tearing away the foundation of everything he thought he knew.

"Adam," a blood-soaked man coughed out. He leaned against the doorway, body weak and legs tired, "Adam, is that you?"

No. No, this couldn't be possible. As much as he wanted it to be, it just couldn't be. Standing before him was the one person he wanted to see more than anyone else. The only family he had left.

"Aiden?"

 **VVVVVVVV**

"Aiden… You… you can't…"

Adam took a shaky step back, his shield the only thing holding steady. This couldn't be real. His brother was standing just a few feet away from him. He looked older, tired and weary. There was a cut across his temple, a trickle of blood running down the left side of his face. His clothes were ragged and torn, just like the outfit Shiro wore when Adam rescued him. Aiden was holding his right arm, blood dripping down from his fingers. It looked like he had been in a fight and injured his arm, but it didn't look mangled or broken in any significant way. He limped forward slightly, gaze transfixed on Adam.

"Adam, are you really here?"

"I… I…" Adam chocked on his words. What could he possibly say? How could he even reaffirm his own presence, when he didn't even believe his own brother was standing in front of him right now? How was he supposed to find the words, when the one person he wanted to see more than anything else had more or less come back from the dead?

"How can you be here?" Adam shook his head. Of all the places for him to be, and of all the times, how could he be here right now? What were the chances of this even happening? And after what him and Pidge had found. He needed answers.

Aiden stumbled forward, "Me and the other prisoners rioted the second the ship was attacked. We figured whoever was here would be able to help us escape. Some of us were killed or got separated, and that's how I ended up here. I thought I could take a ship from an unguarded hangar and get away."

Adam took a hesitant step forward, his shield still holding strong between them. He wanted this. He wanted this more than anything, but it was just too good to be true, "I don't understand. I saw the report. Your file said you were killed."

"But it's not true, is it? I'm right here," Aiden limped a little closer, standing right in front of Adam's shield, "And I couldn't be happier to be reunited with my little brother again," he smiled weakly, mustering up as much joy as he could given the state he was in.

Tears began flowing down Adam's face, the stress of the situation too much for him to bear, "I thought you were dead… and it was all my fault," he cried.

"It was never your fault. You know I would never blame you," he pressed his palm softly against Adam's shield, voice tender and urging, "Lower your shield, and take my hand. You'll see I'm right here in front of you. You'll see this is real."

"Aiden…" Adam whimpered out, starting to slowly drop his arm.

"Take my hand."

Adam was just about to let go of all his defenses, when something small and metallic clinked against his arm, dropping to the ground. He looked down, seeing two dog tags on a broken chain lying on the ground.

"Takashi… Shirogane," Adam read off one of the tags.

He looked over at Shiro, seeing him just standing there and staring at him. He looked stunned and confused, watching the interaction between him and Aiden intently, but otherwise it was like he hadn't moved at all.

"What's wrong Adam? That's your brother. He's the one person you've wanted to see more than anything," Shiro urged Adam forward. Shiro sounded heartfelt and meaningful, but something about this felt… wrong.

Adam looked down, reading the other name on the dog tags, "Aiden… Wright…"

That's right. When Shiro disappeared, he put his dog tag on the same chain as the one his brother gave him. It was a stark reminder of what he had lost. He wanted to wear them in honor of the two people he loved most, but it was too painful to think about. Instead of reminding him of all the good times he shared with both of them, all it did was remind him of that empty feeling once they were gone. It was part of the reason he gave the tags to Shiro when he came back. Not only to return Shiro's tags, but also so he could entrust him with his brother's as well. In that moment, it was meant to symbolize how much Shiro still meant to him after all that time, and all that had happened. He trusted him with the only keepsake his brother had ever given to him, and he believed as long as he had it, then Shiro would always have to come back to him to return it.

That's what he had hoped at least. Shiro had already beaten the odds once and come back to him, because that was the kind of person he was. But… not everyone could be as lucky as him. His brother couldn't. He was stolen away by the Galra, just like Shiro. He was their prisoner, forced to fight in their ring for entertainment, just like he was. But _he_ never came back. Shiro was only gone for a year, and so much had been done to him. Any longer, and he might not have come back at all. And Aiden…. he'd been gone so much longer, almost 10 years. How was it possible that he was still alive, and still had all his limbs when experiments were conducted on the prisoners? How could he just happen to be here at this exact moment?

"I'm here," Aiden insisted, almost as if he could hear Adam's thoughts.

"Aiden," Adam quivered out, tears flowing from his eyes for an entirely different reason. Shiro came back, but his brother…..

"Adam, please."

Adam looked down at the dog tags once more, before steeling himself, "Aiden…. isn't here…. ANYMORE!"

Adam dropped his shield, taking his sword and immediately slashing through the image of his brother before him. His attack was met with a sharp metal clang, the sword pressed against a large metal claw. The illusion vanished, and he saw the monster he was really fighting.

"Sendak!?"

 **VVVVVVVV**

 **5 Minutes Earlier**

"You lose," Adam said, his voice hollow. Shiro watched as he spun on his heels and slashed through empty air.

What was going on? Adam was acting like he had just cut through someone, but Haggar had disappeared before he even got a hit on her.

"A…" Just as he was about to call out his name, the sound of the doors opening across from them made him freeze, Adam instinctively bringing up his shield in defense.

Shiro froze in terror once he saw the figure coming through that door. Sendak, looking just as menacing as ever, came marching into the room. He stood in front of Adam's shield, looking it over and deciding that he couldn't get through it by himself.

"Aiden?" Adam whispered out.

What? Why was Adam calling out his brother's name all of a sudden? Shiro needed to help him fight. He needed to take action, but he couldn't move at all. It felt like he couldn't even breathe. Shit. Was he having another attack? Was the sight of Sendak's unexpected return causing him to remain glued to this very spot?

"Make him lower his shield," Sendak said darkly, standing there and waiting patiently. He could try and attack Adam from behind, but the half dome shield in front of him made that nearly impossible. If he made any sudden moves, then Adam would be able to deflect him.

Haggar appeared next to Sendak, her gaze seemingly transfixed on Adam. What was she gonna do? Could her magic somehow break through Adam's defenses? She could easily teleport behind Adam and strike herself if she wanted to. So why didn't she? It was like she was just toying with him, playing along with Sendak's request for reasons he couldn't understand.

"Aiden… You… you can't…" Adam whimpered out, taking a shaky step backwards.

No! That's why Adam wasn't making any sudden movements, and why he called out his brother's name. The witch was playing a trick on his mind! Fearing for Adam's safety and well-being, Shiro felt the weight holding him in place lift from his shoulders. The rush of adrenaline overtaking the death-gripping fear that made him pause.

"Adam, no! It's .. Ack!" Shiro rushed toward him, but was stopped dead in his tracks by a hand clasping around his throat.

He looked down, seeing Haggar had teleported in front of him and grabbed hold of him. She was deceptively strong, practically lifting him off the ground by his neck. Shiro stood on his tiptoes, hands tightly gripped around her arm to keep himself from chocking to death.

"Now watch, and see how weak your petty emotions make you," she told him menacingly.

Was this what she wanted? Was she trying to prove a point, or did she and Sendak just want to make him suffer by torturing someone he cared about right in front of him? Shiro looked over, seeing Adam talking to absolutely no one as Sendak slowly drew closer to him, waiting for his opportunity to strike.

"I thought you were dead… and it was all my fault," Adam cried.

"A…Adam," Shiro gasped out, barely able to call out to him louder than a whisper.

He needed to do something. He needed to get Adam's attention and snap him out of it. Something that could break through the illusion and show Adam that his brother wasn't here. Wait. His brother! That was it!

Still clinging to Haggar's arm, being forced to watch Sendak and Haggar toy with the man he loved, he reached under his collar with one hand. He quickly fished around his neckline, searching for the metal chain connected to the tags Adam had entrusted him. Once he found it, Shiro pulled them out from his underarmor.

"Aiden…" Adam whimpered out, starting to slowly drop his arm.

Shiro pulled as hard as he could, the chain snapping and leaving a stinging sensation on the back of his neck from the force. Hopefully this would be enough. Adam had to know something was wrong, somewhere in the back of his mind. He just needed to get his attention and make him realize that.

Shiro chucked the tags as hard as he could, aiming for Adam's arm just as he started to lower it. The impact managed to get his attention, making him look down at the now broken necklace. He mumbled something to himself. He glanced up at Shiro, staring right through him without noticing anything was wrong. But he did see something was wrong, looking back down at the tags with confusion. After only a moment, his face twisted up in pain as he finally came to a realization.

"Aiden…. isn't here…. ANYMORE!" Adam screamed, dropping his shield and slashing at Sendak. Sendak blocked the attack with his clawed arm, his face spreading out into a bloodthirsty grin, exhilarated to engage in this fight.

"You're more formidable than I thought!" Sendak sneered.

"Sendak!? How?" Adam almost screamed at him, continuing to push against Sendak with his sword as hard as he could.

"You really believe I would stay lost in space? My arm has a location transmitter that activated the second I was ejected from your pitiful castle. It's a new feature that your little Champion doesn't have," Sendak grinned menacingly, head turning to the side and looking at something in the distance.

Adam quickly looked over his shoulder, realizing that something must have happened to Shiro, otherwise he would have done something to help Adam himself. Instead he just tossed the dog tags to get his attention. With a quick glance to the side, Adam saw Shiro being chocked and lifted off the ground by Haggar. With one hand she held him by his throat, and the other held his prosthetic arm, his hand glowing with energy. He probably tried to strike her after he threw the tags to save Adam, but she had more power and strength than either of them realized. She probably could have killed him right now if she wanted to, but her attention was on Adam after he broke through her illusion.

"Takashi!"

Adam lunged backwards, letting Sendak's claw come crashing into the ground. He quickly set his foot on his claw, stabbing down into it, but barely managing to penetrate the metal plating. Sendak quickly threw his claw up into the air, attempting to throw him off, but that's just what Adam wanted him to do. He used the force of momentum to backflip through the air, giving him significant distance from the large Galran man. Landing in a crouch, Adam immediately changed his sword back into its base form, a sharpened edge forming around it. He couldn't use projectiles, so this would have to do. He tossed the bladed disc right at Haggar as hard as he could.

She disappeared to avoid the attack, dropping Shiro in the process. Adam's weapon clashed against the wall, clattering to the ground and reverting to its original shape now that Adam wasn't holding it. The witch appeared right in front of him, striking at him with a blast of electrical energy. Adam pulled his metal arm up, forming a small rounded shield and deflecting the blast. The energy ricocheted off it and struck Sendak, who was charging right at them, sending him reeling back.

Finally catching his breath, Shiro got up on his feet and grabbed Adam's weapon that lay on the ground next to him, clipping it to his side. Adam was currently pinned down by Haggar, but Sendak had been blasted back several feet away from him. Adam could hold his own against the witch as long as he had his shield, but he wouldn't be able to hold off two assailants. Shiro charged at the fallen Galran man, not wanting to give him a chance to recoup. He ran forward, jumping up and striking down at him with all his force. Sendak deflected Shiro's attack with his claw, rolling to his feet in the process, the two of them ready to face off yet again.

"How did you break my illusion?" Haggar yelled at Adam, teleporting around him, firing blast after blast of energy at him.

Thanks to his impeccable instincts and reflexes, Adam managed to block and deflect each strike with the shield attached to his arm. He still hadn't learned how to fully control it, but it was coming in handy right now.

"I was just reminded of the truth!" he responded, attempting to strike her with edge of his energy shield. It may not be a weapon, but after the way it sent flying Shiro back during training, it had to pack a little bit of a punch.

She dodged the hit appearing a small distance away from him, her hands sparking with electricity, "By a petty trinket? I showed you your greatest desire. Something so small couldn't break that."

Adam felt the anger inside him boiling to the surface. Thinking about how she had tried to trick him only fueled his rage even more, "Magic that reads your regrets, and shows you happiness? That's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard!" he spat.

"What makes you different? Why wouldn't you want to live in the dream of your greatest wish?" She demanded to know. She sounded legitimately confused, and angry about it. Was it really that uncommon for someone to see through her magic?

Adam scoffed, "Dream? I hate to break it to you, but all I have are nightmares. Giving me some false reality isn't gonna fix the mistakes I made. IT WON'T CHANGE ANYTHING!" he screamed, running right at her. No matter how much he wanted it, no matter if Aiden was alive or dead, he would never be free of the guilt that he couldn't save his brother.

"Then die!" She shot out as much energy as she could at him, stopping Adam dead in his tracks as it collided with his shield. He used both his arms to brace himself against her attack, the energy bouncing off and striking the environment around them.

Shiro continued to fend off Sendak at the same time. This was bad. They were caught in a fight with two powerful opponents, and they were no closer to Allura's location. At this rate they were going to be overrun by Galra soldiers and get captured along with her. They needed to end this fast!

"You fight just like you did in the arena!" Sendak snarled at him, apparently finding this fight incredibly thrilling.

"All I remember is the blood and the pain," Shiro panted, lunging forward and flipping over Sendak's claw just as he swiped at him. He twisted on his heel once he landed, trying to deliver a roundhouse kick to his face, the attack stopped by Sendak's normal arm.

He gripped Shiro's foot tight, pulling on it and tossing him across the room, "It was the day limbs were lost, and the day you truly became champion. But now, I am greater than you could ever be!"

He walked up to Shiro, striking down at him with his metallic fingers, piercing the floor just as Shiro rolled out of the way.

"You… You're the one who did this to me?" Shiro asked in disbelief, gripping his right arm.

"You still don't remember?" Sendak asked, more in realization than an actual question, "Disappointing. But it doesn't matter. You'll both die here."

Shiro rolled back, getting into a runner's stance for his next move, "You hurt someone precious to me. You'll pay for that," Shiro said spitefully.

It didn't matter what he did or didn't remember. It didn't matter if this monster was the one who stole his arm. All Shiro could think about when he looked at this Galran's face was the image of his claw piercing Adam's shoulder. The pool of blood that formed around the young man while Shiro was forced to watch and wait for the particle barrier to drop. The way his body felt cold and heavy in his arms as he rushed to get him to a healing pod. All those horrible memories… all that suffering…. It was because of him. And it made Shiro furious.

Shiro launched himself forward, keeping low to the ground. Predicting an upward strike, Sendak braced his feet into a wide stance, striking down and keeping his front guarded. Shiro rolled forward, sliding across the ground between Sendak's legs. He powered up his arm, swiping back and cutting deep into the back of Sendak's left leg.

The Galra man roared out, both in surprise and pain, but he didn't stop. He twisted his body, throwing all his weight into a strike that collided with Shiro's chest, sending him flying back. Shiro didn't think he would be able to do that after delivering such a crippling strike to the man, but he should have guessed. This monster would endure any pain as long as he was able to bring more suffering. Still, he was wounded now, and pretty much hobbled. A few more strikes, and Shiro could end him.

Just as he went to move, a line of electricity cut the ground between the two of them. He looked over to find the source of the destruction. Shiro watched with wide eyes, seeing Haggar hitting Adam with a constant stream of electricity, the energy being deflected of the shield on his arm as he slowly stepped toward her. He took one shaky step after another, getting closer and closer to her as the force of her energy tried to push him back. Yet somehow, he was managing to push toward her.

Shiro felt an immediate desire to help him. Sendak was grounded to the spot, so he wasn't as much of a threat right now, but Shiro couldn't get close without potentially getting hit by the explosive energy that was cascading around them. Wait! He was still holding onto…

"ADAM!"

Adam heard his name, barely audible over the crackling sound of the witches' attacks colliding with his energy shield. He looked over seeing Shiro standing a few feet away from a downed Sendak, throwing something right at him. Adam used his right hand, which had been supporting his left, to catch it. Pulling his support hand away, pushed him back a little into a crouched position, but he immediately realized that he was once again holding his weapon. This was just the advantage he needed! But how to use it?

He could form another shield to break the distance between him and Haggar, but would it even hold up to her attack? Even his particle shield felt like it was about to give out any moment. He could form a sword or spear, but it wouldn't be useful unless he could get close. And any throwing weapon he made would just get blasted away or she would teleport. Unless… maybe he didn't need to get close. And maybe it wouldn't have to hold up against her attack for more than a few seconds….

Adam smiled, gripping his weapon tight in his hands as it began to glow and transform. He quickly pulled his left arm back, holding up his new creation to take the hit. Haggar's lighting collided with Adam's weapon, a funnel shaped shield that was pointed directly at her. Her blast collided with it, running along the surface and deflecting right back at her. She screamed as her own magic hit her, sending her crashing into the wall and hitting the ground with a slump.

Adam dropped to his hands and knees, both his shield and weapon reverting to normal, panting with exhaustion.

"Take that… you bitch," he breathed out between gasps.

However, much to his dismay, she disappeared and reappeared right at the center of the room, standing tall. Shiro, who had been making his way over to Adam stopped in his tracks at the sight of her.

"Enough games. Your time is over," she hissed.

Seriously!? What was it going to take to end this woman?

In an instant, multiple copies of her started appearing around the room, surrounding them. No, not copies. Illusions. This had to be another trick so she could get the drop on them.

Adam pulled himself together, rising to his feet to anticipate her attack, Shiro doing the same.

The sound of the doors opening, and the woman's voice that come from it caught them both off-guard, momentarily distracting them from the threat at hand.

"Adam! Shiro!" Allura called out to them.

Shiro and Adam whirled around to the doorway, seeing Allura standing with Hunk, seemingly desperate to find them. Yes! They managed to get her. All they had to do now was get away from this hellhole.

Oh no! They took their attention off the witch!

Shiro spun around, seeing one of the copies heading straight for Adam's back.

"Adam!" Shiro lunged forward as fast as his feet could carry him, smashing into the smaller man's side, and sending him tumbling to the ground.

As Adam collided with the floor, he heard Shiro scream out in pain, Haggar managing to strike and claw at his side. Shiro collapsed on the ground next to him, hand gripped over his wound.

"Takashi!" Adam moved Shiro's hand out of the way to get a look at the injury that would no doubt be bleeding, expect there was no blood he could see. Right above Shiro's hip were four claw marks, and they were glowing, not bleeding. The witch must have used her magic to rip through him. What should he do? He didn't know how to treat this. He didn't even know how dangerous it was to his health.

"Hunk, do something!" Allura urged, desperate to protect her friends.

"Which one's the real one?" Hunk asked alarmed, seeing all the illusions of the witch swirling and moving around the two men.

Allura looked closely, focusing on the sight before them. Somehow, she was managing to see through the projections being cast around the room, like they were phantoms or ghosts. As a result, she could see one that was completely solid, rushing toward Adam and Shiro from the front.

"Hunk, there! Fire!" she yelled, not seeing the large Galra man that had snuck up on their side.

Hunk opened fire on the illusion that Allura pointed out, making the witch stop and deflect the attack. The blasts bounced off her, striking Sendak in the chest and knocking him out in the process.

Allura jumped back in surprise, the sound of the man falling to the floor scaring her with how unaware she was of his presence. She looked up, seeing Adam lift Shiro to his feet, all apparitions of the witch, including the real one, now gone.

"Is that Sendak!? How did he…?" Hunk started to question.

Allura just ignored him, rushing over to help Adam and Shiro, "We've got to get out of here!"

"Where's the scary lady?" Hunk asked.

"Hunk!" Allura chided, urging him to get a move on.

"Oh, right!"

 **VVVVVVVV**

Keith's lion lay motionless in a crater in the side of Zarkon's ship. It had become unresponsive during his fight. He looked up to the side, seeing the Galra man floating above him. Zarkon. The emperor himself had been trying to grab the Black Lion for himself, but Keith had managed to knock it away and stopped him. Seeing a chance to take out the emperor of the very threat they were pitted against, Keith couldn't pass up the chance to potentially bring it all to an end.

What he didn't realize was just how powerful this man really was, if he could even be called a man. Even without a lion or a ship, he was holding his own against him, and was winning! What's more… he had the black bayard in his hands, and was in full control of it. Had he killed the former paladin and taken it… or maybe…?

Zarkon pointed the bayard directly at Keith and his lion, transforming into a giant cannon that was charging a laser. Keith began to pull on the controls of his lion frantically. Something told him that he wasn't going to survive a hit from this.

"Come on! Come on!" Keith cried out in a panic. This couldn't be it. Not after everything!

Was he going to die alone like this? Was Lance and Shiro right? Running off, trying to do things on his own; he thought he could handle it. He thought it was his responsibility to always be able to do things on his own. That's how he always lived. On his own. Even when he was taken in by Shiro, or made a part of this team, it was still on him alone to do or not do the right thing. He never asked for help. And now, he was starting to think that was all a mistake. Everyone was right. He was too reckless, and he was going to die alone because of it.

Just as Zarkon was about to fire, a blast off energy shot him in the back, sending him flying away. The Black Lion was fully operational again, Shiro and Adam at the helm. Once Hunk and Allura saved them, they all got on the Yellow Lion. Seeing the Black Lion drifting through space, Hunk dropped them both off in it before rushing to return Allura to the castle. Adam insisted on staying by Shiro's side to look after his injury.

Shiro swooped down, using the jaw of the Black Lion to grab hold of Keith's lion and fly them both back to the castle.

"We got you, buddy!" he called out to him. Even injured and weak, he wasn't going to let anything happen to the people he cared about.

"Good to see you," Keith sighed out in relief. He almost forgot. As long as he had Shiro, he was never alone. He needed to start remembering that, and finally start being part of this team just like everyone else.

Adam was crouched at Shiro's side, pressing a gauze pad to his glowing wound. It was all he could do until they were out of here. This wound would take more treatment than he was capable of giving right now.

"All right, Paladins, time to get out of here!" Allura told them over the intercom, each of the lions flying back to the open hangar of the castle.

They remained inside their lions until they could teleport to safety, just in case they needed to rush out and defend the castle. A few moments passed but no wormhole opened up.

"Hello? What's going on? I don't see a wormhole," Hunk yelled, both scared and angry.

"The Galra barrier is jamming our ability to create one! They have us completely surrounded!" Coran yelled, watching as a fleet of Galra ships were flying right toward them.

Shit. As if this couldn't get any worse.

Without warning, the glowing barrier surrounding them all began to flicker before completely vanishing. It almost felt like someone was letting them go. But why?

"What just happened?" Pidge asked, voicing her confusion.

"Who cares? Wormhole!" Hunk screamed.

Adam had to agree with that sentiment. Every second here was another second closer to death. Allura wasted no time, forming an opening and pushing the castle right into it. Just as it sealed behind them, Adam thought he saw a flash of black energy strike the opening, and the entire vortex of the wormhole turned a dark, chaotic purple.

"Coran, what's happening?" Shiro asked, seeing the change from inside of the hangar, the castle shaking with it.

"The integrity of the wormhole has been compromised. It's breaking down!" he screamed, sounding absolutely terrified.

"What does that mean?" Lance yelled. What _did_ that mean? Were they going to still be in the same spot as when they left? Were they going to be stuck in the wormhole? Was it going to kill them!?

"It means we have no control over where we're headed!" Coran explained.

As soon as he said those words, the entire castle shook furiously, a gust of wind and energy reaching into the hangar bay and pulling all the lions out into the wormhole. Everyone spun out into different directions, crashing into the edges of the portal and disappearing. The red lion was still gripped in the black lion's mouth as they spun out. Adam gripped onto Shiro tightly, holding onto him with all he had as they flew into the unknown.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Several hours had passed since Voltron's attack on central command. Two men walked into the large hangar bay where Haggar and Sendak had fought two of the paladins. One of them hung back by the door, while the other moved forward to explore the destruction caused by the fight. Something glinted in the corner of his eye, making him walk over and pick up two discarded dog tags.

"Aiden Wright and Takashi Shirogane," he read aloud, smirking with recognition, "Well what do you know, he really was here."

"Did you find what you were looking for?" The Galran man asked, walking up to him.

"In fact I did. Thank you Thace. I'm surprised you were telling the truth," the other man chuckled.

"Do you doubt my loyalty?" Thace remarked with an unamused face.

"Oh I don't care about that. I just found it hard to believe that they fought against both Sendak and the witch and managed to survive."

"Why is that?" Thace inquired. The odds of survival in that situation did seem significantly low, but they were fighting against two heroes that part of the greatest weapon in the universe.

The man rubbed his fingers over the metal dog tags, "Because it means they were able to break through Haggar's illusions. Fighting against pain is one thing, but fighting against happiness? Now that's impressive."

"Is that pride I hear in your voice?" Thace raised an eyebrow, wondering just what this man was getting out of this. He was well aware of his connection to the champion, but felt like there was another piece he was missing. The only reason he shared this information of this battle with him at all was because he hoped to gain some loyalty or information. Both would be invaluable at this point, since Thace was the one that dropped the barrier that allowed Voltron to escape. A fact, that no one in the entirety of Zarkon's central command was aware of.

The man scoffed out a chuckle, "More like I've come to understand them better. A person's soul is demarcated by their heart's desire. And it takes a heart full of pain and regret to deny what they yearn for most. So much so that they don't believe they are worthy of it, or that the thing they want most couldn't ever be real. It's interesting, don't you think?"

Thace eyed him apathetically, noting just how much insight the man had into Haggar's abilities. Not only that, he was using it to psychoanalyze the two men he hadn't even come face to face with yet. That was what was truly interesting, "I couldn't speak to having an opinion on the matter."

"You're no fun Thace," the man clicked his tongue, feigning disappointment.

"What will you do with this information?" Thace inquired. Despite all his time here, this man was the one thing he still didn't understand. He was a wild card. Unpredictable, and seemingly loyal while also pursing missions that fueled his own agenda. Understanding this man was paramount to successfully carrying out his mission in the future. He just needed to decide if he could be an enemy, or an ally.

"I haven't decided yet. Thank you Thace, you may go," the man responded, his response growing cold and distant, almost like he was actively opposing what Thace needed from him. Still, he didn't want to push further. Thace merely nodded, leaving the man alone in the destroyed hangar bay.

"Yes sir."

The man glanced down at the dog tags one last time. What were the chances? Not only was the champion here, but so was he. It had to have been him. It was the only explanation after all. The man smirked, stuffing the broken necklace into his pocket and leaving the hangar, "See you soon, brother."


	12. I'll Save You!

**Episode 11: I'll Save You!**

 **Several Years Ago**

"Hey Adam!"

The sound of a loud, but boyishly young voice made Adam stop dead in his tracks. He knew that voice well, and it got on his nerves every time he heard it. Adam turned around, holding his schoolbooks firmly against as his chest as a barrier against the annoying teenager approaching him.

"Shirogane," Adam responded flatly, "Following me around again?"

Ever since Adam joined the Garrison, this boy had been pestering him, trying to make pleasantries and be friends. Adam could never fathom why, nor could he escape him. Since Adam was a gifted prodigy, and Shiro was more or less the golden boy of their age group, they had many classes together.

"I just wanted to see how your day was going," Shiro replied simply, practically bouncing on his feet. Even for a teenager, he was pretty energetic, "And I keep saying you can call me Shiro!"

"I don't want to give you the impression that we're friendly," Adam said, turning to walk to his next class.

"Aww, I think we're friends," Shiro said, feigning somberness while following him closely.

"Don't," Adam stated bluntly, "I don't know why you insist on pestering me when I make it clear that I don't want you around."

"I don't think you really mean it though," Shiro said brightly. Jeez, this guy was like a ray of freaking sunshine, encroaching on the shadows Adam had become comfortable with. It had to be an act. No one was this nice. Yet Shiro just kept on, "Besides, I think you could use a friend."

Adam rolled his eyes, "I have friends. You've met Phil. We've known each other for a long time," Adam corrected him. If that was all it took to get rid of this guy, he would have laid that out weeks ago. He must not have realized they were friends because of how equally cold and annoyed Phil was by this shining golden boy. Hell, why couldn't pester Phil every once in awhile!? Why did it always have to be him?

"Yeah, I know. But even when you're with him, you always look…"

As he spoke, Adam noticed that his voice had started to become distant. He stopped and turned around, seeing Shiro standing still in the middle of the hallway, hands gripping the straps of his backpack tightly and gazing down at the ground.

"What?" Adam pressed on, needing to know what could have made him stop in his tracks all of a sudden.

"Lonely," Shiro finally said, looking up at Adam with what looked like pity and remorse.

He couldn't explain why, but that pissed Adam off even more than anything. Still, he was in a public hallway and couldn't make a scene. Instead he just let that anger boil, gritting his teeth in disgust and spitting out, "You don't know anything about me,"

Adam stomped off, stopped in his tracks by the cheerful voice yet again calling out, "But I'd like to!" What the hell? Was he really still going? Adam whirled around, seeing Shiro still in the same spot, but his face filled with genuine sincerity. He tilted his head and smiled softly, "I bet seeing you smile would be really something."

Adam felt his face flush. What kind of response was that? Adam must have been too overwhelmed with anger to think straight. Yeah, that was it. That's why he blushed, because it was such a stupid thing to say.

"Just… just leave me alone," Adam told him, jogging off to his next class, thankfully without Shiro, "Dumbass," whispered under his breath.

Who did he think he is? It wasn't his job or business to look out for Adam. He could take care of that just fine by himself. He didn't need anyone…

 **VVVVVVVV**

 **Present Day**

Adam groaned, his body sore and his head screaming at him. He must have hit his head and passed out. Good thing he was still wearing his helmet. Adam pushed himself up onto his hands, the floor flat and hard, "Ughhh. Where….?" Still a little delirious, Adam forgot where he was for a split second. Suddenly, it dawned on him, and he looked over to his right, seeing Shiro collapsed on he ground next to him, "Takashi!"

How could he forget!? Just as they were about to crash, Shiro protected him at the last second. Shiro had unhooked his seat harness, and covered Adam's body with his own, taking the brunt of the impact once they hit the ground. How could he still be so reckless!?

Adam pulled on his shoulder, making Shiro lay flat on his back. He was still unconscious and unmoving, making Adam panic and his heart race. _Wait. Stay calm. You have medical training for these kinds of situations._

Adam pulled off Shiro's helmet and then his own. He moved down, holding his ear against Shiro's head to see if he was still breathing. The soft tickle of air against the side of his face made Adam sigh out in relief. Thank god. He wouldn't have been able to hear Shiro's heartbeat through his armor, and he would have had to get it off him before he could start chest compressions. Luckily that wasn't necessary if he was breathing normally.

Maybe he was just relieved, or still dizzy, but Adam plopped down, resting his head on top of Shiro's chest, arms drapped over him.

Shiro let out a soft groan, lifting his head up and whispering out, "A… Adam?"

"Takashi," Adam sat up, cupping Shiro's face and looking in his eyes for any sign of dilation. They looked normal, so he probably didn't have a concussion, "Are you okay?"

"I think so?" Shiro said, unsure. His whole body hurt, especially his side, but nothing felt particularly broken. He sat up, just making sure that he still could.

Adam sighed deeply, his expression becoming aggressive and shoving Shiro's shoulder roughly, "You idiot! You're injured. Why did you brace my fall!?"

Shiro scoffed a happy sigh. Adam was still mad at him. That was good then, "Instinct, I guess. My wound's not even that bad," he answered simply, placing his hand over it.

"You moron. We don't know how bad your injury is," Adam scolded him, pulling Shiro's hand off his wound to take a look at it, "Why can't you ever let me be the one to protect you?"

Shiro looked at Adam's face as he examined the wound, seeing the worry and guilt in his eyes. Shiro mentally kicked himself. He did it again, didn't he? "Diagnosis?" Shiro asked, wanting Adam to focus on his medical training so he wouldn't get worked up worrying about him again.

"It's not glowing as bright, so whatever energy that Witch hit you with is wearing off. But I'm also seeing some blood start to trickle out. Which means pretty soon…."

"I'll start bleeding out?" Shiro guessed, "Good thing I have that fancy quick healing," he finished casually, not wanting to worry Adam more than he was bound to.

"That's not a good thing Takashi!" Adam shouted in his face. Typical reaction. Adam started fidgeting around, looking for something to cover Shiro's wound, "I told you that puts a huge strain on your body. If your wound opens up and starts bleeding…. I need to find something else to cover it. We need to get back to the castle. I have to treat it. I have to…!"

"Adam!" Shiro grabbed his shoulder, steadying him and keeping him from rambling on, "Relax. I'm okay right now. I mean, my side stings a bit, but I feel alright. So take a breath, and let's figure our next move."

Adam sighed. Right. He needed to stay focused. He can't get worked up just because of his personal feelings, "Okay. Okay, we should figure out where we are first," Adam looked around the Lion's cockpit, "Can you get the Black Lion moving?"

Shiro stood up, sitting in the seat and grabbing the controls. He tried pulling on them, reaching out with his mind to try and connect with it. Nothing moved or lit up.

"No good, it's not responding," Shiro sighed, slumping back in the chair.

"Can we still get outside?"

"Yeah, I think so. It looks like the mouth is still open," Shiro responded. It was holding the Red Lion after all, "Wait. Where's Keith?"

 **VVVVVVVV**

Keith slowly opened his eyes, slowly coming back into consciousness. He could see what looked like a wasteland from his seat inside the Red Lion, but nothing else. He was pretty sure he was alive, a feeling supported by the dull ache of his body. He needed to get back on his feet. Figure out what was going on.

"You okay, Red?" Keith asked aloud, grabbing the controls and hoping for a response. When none came he merely sighed, patting the armrest, "Okay. We'll fix you up. We had a tough battle."

Well if flying the lion wasn't an option, then getting outside and getting a view of the landscape would have to be a good start. How the hell was he going to get out though?

Keith climbed down to the mouth of the lion, seeing the ramp already opened up and laying slated to the ground. _Thanks Red_ , Keith smiled. He walked out into the open plains, seeing what looked like nothing but empty wasteland and cliffs. No signs of civilizations or any other people. He needed a better perspective. Keith turned around, climbing on top of Red. Luckily the lion was splayed out on the ground, so it wasn't too difficult.

Keith stood on top of the head, looking out and still finding only empty wasteland, "Where are we? Where have we landed?" There had to be something around here. Then, with sudden realization, Keith remembered the Black Lion had been with him just before they crashed, "Shiro! Adam! Can you hear me!?" He called out on his comms, hoping to get a signal.

 **VVVVVVVV**

"Keith, are you there? Keith!?" Shiro shouted into his helmet comm, getting only static in response. Both him and the Red Lion had seemed to be in bad shape last he saw them. Now it was his turn to panic, "I can't get a signal. I think my communicator is damaged."

Adam pulled his helmet back off, reaching inside it, "I can't get through either. It's possible the signal just isn't strong enough," he pulled out a small round metallic cylinder, reaching out toward Shiro with his other hand, "Here. Let me see your helmet."

Shiro pulled it off, handing it over. Adam grabbed the helmet, reaching inside and ripping out a large circuit chip with much less care than his own.

"Hey!" Shiro whined, a little offended at how poorly he was treating Shiro's equipment.

Adam waved him off, messing with the circuits and attaching it to the cylindrical earpiece, "We can fix it later. Right now we just need to get it working. If I can boost the range, we might be able to get in touch with him," Adam connected the ends with a soft click, handing it over to Shiro, "Try this."

"You can really do that?" he asked. Adam could do a lot of impressive things, but he didn't think mechanics was part of his skillset.

"I have many skills," Adam responded smugly, "Phil showed me how to tinker with some small electronics. Still not my strong suit though. I'll leave that to Hunk."

Shiro put the piece inside his ear, a voice cutting through the static, "Shiro, can you hear me? Adam? Are you there? Answer me!"

"Keith! I'm here. Keith," Shiro called back excitedly, running outside to clear up the signal.

"Shiro!" Keith called again, his voice on the comms coming through much stronger now.

"Keith! Keith, I'm here. I'm okay."

Keith made a large audible sigh, "You made it."

Shiro chuckled, "It takes more than a glowing alien wound, a fall from the upper atmosphere, and crashing into a hard pan surface, at what I'm guessing is about 25 meters per second squared, to get rid of me."

"Now you're just showing off," Adam rolled his eyes, following him outside onto the deserted plains.

"How are you?" Shiro asked Keith.

"Not good. My lion's busted. Wait, what wound?" Keith became more anxious once he comprehended what had been said. If Shiro was injured at all, then he would need medical care immediately. From what he understood about Shiro's condition from Adam, any significant strain on his body could be overwhelming and become even more serious.

"It's nothing," Shiro assured him, realizing his mistake too late. Last thing he needed was Keith to start worrying to when there was nothing he could do about it.

"Is Adam with you?" Keith asked, both hoping that they were together where he could find them, and so Adam could care for Shiro.

Shiro looked over at the dark-skinned man, watching him survey their surroundings, "Yeah, he's here. We're both here. My lion isn't working either. And it looks like we're stuck in the middle of a canyon-like crater, so I don't know how we can meet up."

Keith's helmet beeped, a beacon showing up on his visor pointing him in direction to his left, "Hang on. I think I'm tracking your comm on my helmet visor. I'm coming to you."

"Alright. We'll wait here for you," Shiro confirmed. Good thing Adam tinkered with their comms. It allowed them to get in contact with Keith and was evidently strong enough to give him a signal to track.

"Takashi," Adam said apprehensively, grabbing his arm.

Shiro looked over at him, seeing his gaze transfixed on something on the distance. Shiro followed his line of sight to the top of a steep cliff ahead of them. On it were several dangerous-looking alien creatures, two of them making their way down the cliff and right towards them.

Shiro called out to Keith, "On second thought, you'd better hurry."

 **VVVVVVVV**

 **Several Years Ago**

Iverson gathered two classes together in the sparring room. Usually only one class used it at a time for self defense training, but since these were the advanced classes, they were doing something special. Unfortunately for Adam, that meant his class was doing this with that freaking Shirogane's class!

"Today, we'll be doing a joint sparring practice. Everyone pick a partner that you think you can match," the lieutenant instructed.

 _Crap!_

Adam rushed over to his friend with short black hair and glasses, "Phil, partner up with me," he begged.

"Don't we have to pick someone from the other class?" Phil inquired, perplexed by Adam's sudden urgency.

"That's what I'm afraid of. Just partner up with me!"

"Alright," Phil shrugged. It was probably against practice, but he'd do anything for Adam.

However, Iverson seemed to have his eye on Adam and called out to them, "Wright! Your skill is much higher than Choi's. I'm gonna put you with someone else," _Please don't. Please don't_ , Adam silently begged, "Shirogane! Get over here!"

"Oh, son of a bitch…" Adam whispered. Why was fate so freaking cruel?

"Yes sir! What can I do for you?" Shiro marched over like the good little soldier boy he was.

"Partner up with Wright. You're both top of your class, so you should make a good match," Iverson instructed.

Adam sputtered. Please. This kid may have been the golden boy all around, but Adam totally had more skill than him. He just didn't feel the need to flaunt it by being a goody-two-shoes. He let his work speak for itself.

"Gladly, sir!" Shiro saluted. Once Iverson left, Shiro turned to Adam with a smile, "Guess we're partners."

Adam was going to respond with something spiteful, but he came to a sudden realization. This was a sparring class, and he was expected to do his best. If anything, this could prove to be a very cathartic exercise.

Adam smiled darkly, "Oh good. I'm looking forward to beating you down. I'm sure I can pin you easily."

"If you try and pin me then I'll just beat you off!" Shiro fired back.

"….." Adam's smugness went out that window at that response.

Surprised by Adam's silence, it took Shiro a minute before he realized what he said. His face immediately turning red like a tomato, he began sputtering, "No! I mean, I'll beat you off of me!... With my fists!... And… and… I'm just gonna get ready…"

He quickly walked away, grabbing fighting pads and equipment from the wall, the back of his ears still tinged pink with embarrassment.

"Dumbass," Adam chuckled to himself. Wait, no. He shouldn't be laughing at him, unless he does something really humiliating of course. What he needed to be doing was thinking of all the ways he was going to put this freaking kid in his place, and show him just how strong he really was, "I'm gonna show you who's the better fighter."

 **VVVVVVVV**

 **Present Day**

Watching the large creatures move toward them was unsettling. They scaled down the cliffside with relative ease, long claws visible even from this distance. They looked like they were the size of lions, but were clearly reptilian in appearance. Whatever they looked like, they needed to protect themselves from these things. In their current state they wouldn't be able to put up a good fight against them, especially when they were outnumbered.

"Quick, let's get back to the…!" Adam turned around toward the Black Lion, seeing two more creatures coming out from around both sides of it, blocking their route back, "Shit."

These things hunted with strategic attack patterns. The main hunting force was heading toward them from the cliffs, while these two kept their prey from running away. This was a pretty sophisticated hunting pattern for mere alien creatures.

"I'm not seeing a way out of here," Shiro said tensely, analyzing their surroundings for a position they could either run to or defend themselves. But with such large open plains of desert, there was nowhere to go. Even if they made inside the Black Lion, these things would be right on their ass, following them in before they could find a way to barricade the entrance.

As the creatures closest to them approached, Adam held his right arm in front of Shiro, pushing him back and stepping closer to the Black Lion.

"Stay back Takashi," he said determinedly.

"Are you crazy? I'm not letting you fight these things alone! There's too many," Shiro argued, seeing more creatures start to enclose around them.

"You're still injured! Would you just listen to me for once!?" Adam screamed, visibly upset. How can he still be putting himself in harms way? This situation was far more dangerous for him than it was for Adam.

"Sorry, but you know I can't do that. I'm not gonna leave you!" Shiro got into a fighting stance beside him, activating his arm.

 _Stubborn ass!_ Adam screamed internally. Realistically, the only way they were getting out of here was if they fought together. But Adam felt incredibly displeased by it. He wanted to be able to look out for Shiro and defend him himself.

Adam grabbed his weapon, forming a broadsword. The two in front of them were approaching slowly, suggesting they knew what kind of threat Adam and Shiro posed. These things were definitely smarter than the average predator. They were watching them and analyzing them to see how they would strike. But still, even if they were waiting to see what they would do, why wouldn't they just wait for the other creatures to enclose on them? Unless of course…

The sound of the rocks clattering behind them made Adam whirl around, holding up his sword, long claws clashing against it. Shit! These things were fast. The ones behind them had been a lot further away a minute ago. It was just like he thought. Not only were the ones by the lion meant to cut off their escape, they were the distraction too! They drew their attention so the main party could come at them at top speed.

"Adam!" Shiro called out, shocked and worried as he looked over his shoulder.

Adam slashed at the creature, making it jump back to avoid the attack. These things were agile too. This wasn't going to be easy. He wasn't even sure they stood a chance at this rate.

One of the monsters by the lion hissed, jumping toward Shiro, seeing his lack of a weapon as an invitation. Shiro bent his knees, bracing himself for the weight, and punching up as hard as he could with his metal arm. His glowing fist tore through the creature's stomach like butter, making it wail out and fall to the ground, blue blood coating Shiro's arm. The other creature by the lion hissed loudly, clearly not expecting Shiro to be able to dispatch one of them so easily.

Adam continued to fend of the one behind them, slashing at it quickly and jumping out of the way of its swipes. They may have been agile, but their stature limited their attack movements.

"Shiro, what happened?" Keith called, hearing their struggle through the communicator.

"There's several creatures. Me and Adam are trying to fight them off," he panted, punching at the one in front of him, diving out of the way of its tail when it turned to smack him with it.

A soft clicking sound behind him caught him off guard, "Huh?" he looked over his shoulder, just as claws collided with his back and sending him tumbling forward, "Aghhh!"

"Takashi!" Adam screamed, hearing Shiro's yell and seeing him fall to the ground. The creatures lured him into a trap, making him dive out of the way of an obvious strike to get sneak attacked by another. Fortunately it looked like it only slashed the back of his armor, and not actually cutting anything. Adam ran over toward him, readying his arm to form a shield around them. He stepped between Shiro and the monsters, just as it brought it's claw down. It collided with Adam's arm forcefully, his shield never appearing, knocking him flat on his back, "AHHH!"

"Adam…" Shiro reached out to him.

What was going on!? Why didn't Adam's shield activate? Did he overexert it fighting that damned witch? Or was it not working because of whatever caused their current situation and saped their energy out of the lions? Whatever it was, that was one of Adam's trump cards flushed down the toilet. He couldn't rely on it for protection.

"Something's wrong. My shield won't activate," Adam hauled himself up on his hands and knees next to Shiro, seeing the creatures circle around them slowly.

"These things are toying with us. They know we can't win."

He was right. They could have easily killed them right now, but they wanted to watch their prey squirm and try to fight. With intelligence came vindictiveness evidently. At least it was keeping them alive for a few more seconds. Just long enough to think of something. Anything! They couldn't win like this. Not with just the two of them.

"We just need to stall long enough until Keith gets here. Then we might have a chance," Adam said.

Shiro nodded to a cliffside to their right, "Over there. There's a cave. If we can't get to the Black Lion, that might be our best shot."

Adam grabbed his weapon, forming his signature halberd, "Then let's go for it."

Adam stood tall, swiping his halberd hard in front of him, making the creatures jump back. He spun it, slashing it down in the direction of the cave to make them split apart, creating a split-second opening. Shiro dove through the line of creatures, running straight for the cave. Adam used the butt of his halberd, digging it into the ground and launching himself over the creatures as they tried to reform their vulture's circle. Adam and Shiro took off at top speed, but the alien monsters were right behind them.

Adam turned his weapon into a large shield, running directly behind Shiro and deflecting every swipe of their dangerous claws that he could. One of them managed to flank them, jumping around Adam and swiping at Shiro. Again it collided with his armor chestplate, but no doubt still hurt based on Shiro's groan. Adam bashed it with the shield, knocking it away.

Within seconds they were at the edge of the cave, some rocks and debris hanging precariously over the edge. Adam formed a strong sturdy spear with his weapon, tossing it at the hanging rocks. Shiro hesitated for a moment at the action, but Adam tackled Shiro into the cave. Their bodies rolled into it, the rocks tumbling down around them and sealing them inside. They were separated from the creatures, but also from their only way of escape.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Shiro's arm was caught in a vice grip, his weight being hauled over Adam's shoulder as he slammed hard into the ground. The impact knocked the wind out of him, making him freeze up for a moment. They were pretty evenly matched, but damn if that wasn't a good move.

"Aghh! Damn," Shiro spat out in frustration, looking up at Adam.

Adam sneered down at him, "You know, this is pretty therapeutic. I might like you a lot more if I can wail on you like this more often."

Shiro scoffed, pushing himself up onto his feet. He smiled, exhausted but satisfied. Adam may have been sinister about it, but this was happiest Shiro had ever seen him. And that was something worthwhile.

"I thought it might be helpful. You win this round," Shiro laughed, standing up tall and brushing himself off, acting like he barely exerted himself.

Adam frowned, displeased that Shiro was so chipper despite his beatdown, "Why do you say that?"

"No reason," Shiro shrugged, turning to walk away.

"Hey, you better not be suggesting that you went easy on me!" Adam yelled after him.

"I would never," Shiro smirked over his shoulder. What the hell? Was this asshole really taunting him? What happened to the whole nice guy act? Was he just screwing with him this whole time!?

"That's it! Rematch! Right now!" Adam stomped his foot, practically throwing a tantrum like a child.

"Happy to, but the class is about to end," Shiro said, eyes moving to look over to their instructor.

Just as he said that, Iverson blew a whistle, signaling everyone to stop.

"That's a wrap everybody. You all did exceptionally well. Shower up and head to your next class," he ordered.

"Maybe next time," Shiro winked, walking off toward the locker room.

That son of a ….! Adam was steaming, "You better believe there's gonna be a next time! And I'm gonna kick your ass! No question!"

Shiro tried to stifle a laugh as he left the training room. Adam didn't realize it, but he could be surprisingly cute when he was pissed off. And like it or not, he was starting to get through to him. Even if he had to be on the receiving end of his cruelty, Shiro was dying to know what else was hiding under that rough exterior.

He didn't really understand why he continued on. He just saw someone who was angry, withdrawn, and clearly needed a way out. Shiro just wanted to help. Why else was he here if not to make a difference in people's lives? Sure he wanted to go to space and make incredibly discoveries, but saving someone who clearly needed it now was just as important. Maybe he had a compulsive need to fix things, or maybe his own lack of family made him feel like he needed to be the responsible one. Whatever it was, he was going to give Adam a chance to vent all his frustrations and anger. And maybe one day… just maybe… he would reach that softer side of him.

 **VVVVVVVV**

"Are you alright?" Adam asked, holding Shiro in his arms.

"I'm fine," Shiro panted, catching his breathe and trying to relax his body.

"Uh-oh," Keith's voice came I over the communicator.

"Keith, are you okay? What happened?" he quickly asked, letting Adam they still had a signal underneath all this rock.

"Minor delay, but I'm on my way. How are you?" Keith informed him, letting him know not to worry.

"I'm all right, but me and Adam trapped in a cave, and some nasty-looking creatures have us cornered."

Hearing that, Keith started to panic a little, thinking of how to get to them as quickly as he could, "Stay put. I'm on my way. I just have to... figure this out," Shiro heard him take a deep breath, whispering to himself "Patience yields focus."

Shiro smiled, glad to hear his own personal mantra again, "That really stayed with you, didn't it?"

"You've given me some good advice. If it wasn't for you, my life would have been a lot different," Keith said fondly, reminiscing about their past.

Shiro let out a quick, sarcastic chuckle, "Yeah. You wouldn't have crashed a flying lion on an alien planet and be stuck with little hope of rescue," Shiro looked deeply in Adam's eyes as he spoke, conveying his regret and apology to him as well, "So, you're welcome."

"Stay with me, Shiro. I'll be there soon," Keith promised, ending the call.

Adam wiped a smudge of dirt off Shiro's face, brushing his white floof of hair to the side, "Look at you. All beat up like this."

"I remember a time when seeing me like this made you smile," Shiro reminisced thoughtfully, thinking back to the days they would spar together.

"You know I don't feel that way anymore," Adam said remorsefully, "I was just… angry. And I thought hurting you was a way to keep you…"

"From getting too close?" Shiro finished for him.

That was something Shiro had come to know about him over the years. Had he known the kind of pain that Adam was holding onto all those years ago, he wouldn't have pressed so hard to get his attention. At the time Shiro thought he was doing something good, giving another troubled student a chance to vent all their negativity, and hopefully open up and make a real friend in the process. In the end, his strategy worked. But looking back on it, Shiro realized how insensitive he had been. He invaded Adam's space, practically forcing him to open up to him. He should have been better than that, given him a chance to talk to real professionals or something. But Shiro was just a dumb kid with good intentions, and a stupid crush.

Adam nodded in response, "Yeah. It scared the hell out of me. I didn't want to let anyone in after I lost my brother. In my young mind, it was the smartest way from feeling that pain, that loss, all over again."

"I'm sorry I was so persistent," Shiro apologized, "I think you could have had a much happier life if it wasn't for me."

All it took was one look at where they were to know Adam could have had a much safer life if it hadn't been for him.

"That's not true," Adam shook his head. Despite how things turned out, he couldn't even begin to imagine his life without him. Everything he had done for him, "I was a stubborn, closed-off kid with no regard for other. And it took another stubborn-ass kid, trying to force himself into being my friend, to snap me out of it."

"Hahaha, ow," Shiro laughed, the movement making him cringe. He probably had a fractured rib or two, but it made him both relieved and happy to know he cherished the stupid things Shiro did back when they were teens. Still, that didn't change the situation they were in, "Adam. Listen… even if Keith gets here…"

"I don't want to hear it," Adam cut him off. He could already tell by the way he was talking that he was going to start spewing off last wishes or something. He wasn't about to listen to that, because listening would mean accepting the possibility.

"If it comes down to it, just leave me behind. I don't want to slow you down,"

"I'm not doing that. I'm never going to do that," Adam shook his head furiously, eyes welling up with tears, "I'm going to save you! Just like you've always saved me."

"There's something I need to tell you, in case I never get the chance again," Shiro insisted. He loved the beautiful things Adam was saying, and hated to see him cry; but they needed to be realistic about their situation. With the state he was in, chances were very slim he would make it out alive.

"Enough!" Adam screamed, "Anything you have to say, you can tell me when we get out of here!"

"I'm serious," Shiro said sternly, his own eyes beginning to water, "Don't you want to know?"

"Takashi…" Adam whimpered faintly, no strength left in him to protest.

"When I left you behind, I was trying to push you away," Shiro admitted. It was now or never.

"I know all that. We've been over this, but I don't care about that anymore."

"It wasn't just that… I tried to convince myself those were the only reasons I left. But the truth is, I was scared."

"What?"

"I was scared… of what was happening to me. I was trying to prove to myself, and to everyone else, that I could do more. I was trying to defy the limitations placed on me, because I didn't want to accept the path my life was inevitably heading," Shiro braced himself. This was it. This was the moment Adam was going to hate him for the rest of his life, "That's why I left, fear and selfish pride."

Adam bowed his head, his face hidden by the dark shadows of the cave, "Why didn't you tell me this before? I love you. You're supposed to be able to come to me when something's bothering you."

"You were always dealing with so much. I didn't want to burden you," Shiro told him.

"That's not fair Takashi!" Adam looked at him, his eyes full of fire and emotion, "You took on all my problems as your own. I deserved the chance to do the same for you!"

That was just like Adam. Being given an earthshattering revelation, and he was more upset about how he couldn't get even with Shiro. It was funny, in a beautifully frustrating way. That didn't make what Adam said any less true though. Adam deserved a chance to be there for Shiro, but he was so concerned with being strong, both for Adam and himself, he never gave him one. He didn't break down and cry, or show his weakness. He kept it all bottled up, so he could preserve as much happiness and joy as he could. But that wasn't right either. All his decisions, everything that made so much sense at the time, it was all wrong. How did Adam ever fall in love with him, when he was so incredibly bad at relationships?

"I'm sorry," Shiro cupped Adam's face, silently wishing he could have been a better man for him. Done more for him, "I'm sorry for all the times I didn't treat you right."

Adam gasped a silent cry, "Don't be sorry. You brought out the best in me," he grabbed Shiro's hand, kissing it softly before resting his forehead against it, tears trickling down his face, "You made a mistake. I forgive you. Just stop talking like you're going to die. I can't imagine my life without you."

There it was. The one thing Shiro feared more than anything else. Adam's forgiveness. How could he ever be worthy of something so benevolent and kind? He was a stupid, selfish fool. His skills as a pilot and a leader were the only things he considered redeemable about himself. It's why he threw himself so hard into Voltron. He thought if he could save the universe, and protect others, maybe he could atone for all the poor decisions he made in his life. That's what he thought at least. Even if it wasn't directly, he thought it could make up for the pain he put Adam through. But that was a lie.

Nothing was ever going to change the way he screwed up Adam's life, even if Adam himself would never admit it. It's why Shiro refused to even try and restart their relationship. He didn't deserve that love, and he sure as hell didn't want to hurt Adam anymore than he had. And in the most ironic twist of fate ever, here was Adam, wanting to save him, begging him to stay, even forgiving him. Why was fate so cruel? Didn't it know that the man he loved was worth more than that? So why did it keep bringing him back to him? This isn't how it should be!

And yet…. Shiro couldn't help but feel… happy.

Shiro began to shake and quiver in Adam's arms, crying unabated. Being given Adam's forgiveness was like a blessing. With just a few words, he had taken away all of Shiro's internal suffering and regret. How could he even begin to handle so much love? It was overwhelming, and all he could do was cry in response. For the first time in a long time, Shiro felt himself wanting. Wanting a chance to make up for all the mistakes he made. Wanting a chance to be with Adam again, to love him, and do right by him. He wanted it more than anything.

The sound of rubble shifting from above them made them stop and look over, the faint sound of hissing coming from the other side of the cave. The creatures had dug their way toward them, and from the sound of it, they were very close. Shiro sat up, holding Adam firmly in his arms. Fate really is cruel after all.

 **VVVVVVVV**

 **Several Years Ago**

"Who does that asshole think he is?" Adam huffed, stomping off down the near empty hallway. Just when he was starting to enjoy himself a little, that freaking golden boy had to act like he wasn't even a challenge! Adam totally kicked his ass, he just couldn't admit it!

Adam roughly bumped into another guy's side, too wrapped up in his own feelings to notice or care, "Hey! Watch it kid!"

Adam whirled around, seeing an older cadet, accompanied by a friend, looking back at him with irritation. He didn't have time for this.

"Watch it yourself!" Adam barked, continuing to walk away.

"What did you say!?" the man responded, grabbing Adam's arm roughly, dragging him back and slamming him into the wall.

"Hey! Get your fucking hands off me you piece of shit!" Adam screamed.

"Wow. Kid's got a mouth for a cadet," the man's friend commented.

Finally, Adam noticed their disheveled appearance. Messy hair, improper uniform etiquette, and unnecessary jewelry. Based on the color of their nameplates, they were two years above him. They should have been in a class right now if that was true. Great. Of all the people to pick a fight with it had to be with delinquents. But Adam was too fired up to stop now.

"I may be a cadet, but I could kick your ass in a one-on-one!" he spat at the friend.

"Except it's not one-on one you little punk," the man said, digging his hands into Adam's wrists even harder, making him grunt.

Damn, Adam was good, but he couldn't take both of them. He could break out and get away, but he wasn't about to give these losers the satisfaction of seeing him run away, "Too afraid to fight me like real man? Have to hide behind your friends like a whimp?" Adam taunted.

The man sneered, "It's called using your resources. My resource just happens to be a friend to kick the ass of any kid who thinks they're too big for their britches," He let go of one of Adam's hands, pulling his fist back to deliver a punch to his face.

This was it. Adam would dodge the attack, making him punch the wall and injure his hand. Then he could take on the friend. Maybe… He would need to be quick.

Just before the man brought his fist forward, a stern, yet familiar voice called out to them, "Collins! O'Neal!"

They looked over, seeing Shiro eye them with dissatisfaction. Adam didn't even know he could make such a face.

"Get lost Shirogane! This runt is asking for it," The named Collins responded. Adam had to wonder how he knew them since they were older cadets. Must have been his golden boy status giving him connections.

Shiro approached them calmly, "That runt is a child prodigy in the same grade as me."

"No freaking way," Collins looked back down at Adam, not wanting to believe it. He knew how much stock the Garrison put into their most promising and advanced students. Beating him up would no doubt lead right back to him if that was true.

Shiro moved even closer, standing next to Adam, almost as if he was guarding his body from Collins, "And furthermore, Commander Sansa is looking for you to go over your less than… exceptional performances lately. I wouldn't make it worse by being late," he threatened.

"….." Collins eyes Adam and Shiro back and forth, his friend already retreating away. He dropped Adam and took a large step back, "Fine. I have better things to do than waste my time on this kid anyway."

Both him and his friend walked off towards the offices, leaving Adam and Shiro alone in the hallway.

"Have a nice day!" Shiro called after them, reverting back to his cheery nature.

"I didn't need your help," Adam brushed him off, but not moving to leave just yet.

"Clearly," Shiro said with a surprising amount of sarcasm, putting his hands on his hips and smirking at Adam.

"You're just here because Sansa needed to see them," Adam dismissed. It's not like Shiro went out of his way to help him. It was just a matter of convenience and this boy's compulsive need to be Adam's friend.

"Actually I lied about that. Sansa doesn't know about their poor performances," Shiro shrugged, looking over his shoulder and then back to Adam like he was telling a dirty joke, "But she will now."

Adam quirked an eyebrow, admittedly both impressed and confused, "Wow. Didn't think the golden boy could be so shady."

"I was just trying to help you," Shiro smiled softly.

There it was again. That damned, perfect, handsome smile. No. Not handsome. Well, objectively it was a handsome smile. Shiro was a good-looking guy after all…

 _None of that matters you idiot!_

Right. Shiro was just doing what he always did. He was just trying to be helpful, and be his friend, in that oh so annoying manner. That persistence that only he seemed to have. Everyone else that tried to make friends with Adam were either incredibly fake and just wanted to suck up, or they were naïve in thinking that Adam even needed them in the first place. No matter who it was, he would scare them off in a day or two, sometimes in a single conversation. The only friend he needed was Phil. He was the only friend he had before his life turned into hell, and was the only who knew what he was going through.

But Shiro… was different. He didn't seem to mind when Adam told him off. In fact, lately he seemed to thrive off of it. Was he some weirdo that liked being abused by others? If that was true, why did he try so hard to be the perfect soldier, praised and admired by everyone? But more importantly, why couldn't he ever just leave Adam alone!? He told him that he didn't want him around, and yet… he still went out of his way to try and save him from, an arguable deserved, beating. What was with him?

"Why? After I've done nothing but be cruel to you?" Adam asked aloud. The question was burning into him, and he needed to know the answer.

"Haven't I answered that already?" Shiro tilted his head, looking like a lost puppy dog. Shiro had always been upfront and honest about his intentions. Maybe his feelings and desire to help were so genuine that Adam couldn't comprehend them? Regardless, Shiro never kept his motivations secret.

Adam just clicked his tongue in annoyance, "Fine. Don't tell me," he started to walk away again, but stopped, turning around and pointing at Shiro with a certain ferociousness, "But just know, I'm going to pay you back. Got it!?"

"Huh?" Was all Shiro could manage to say. It seemed like Adam had something really important to get off his chest, but he had no idea what that meant.

"You saved me, which means I owe you, whether I like it or not," Adam admitted regretfully. Had Shiro shown up by mere coincidence looking for those two cadets, he could have written the whole thing off. But Shiro came across them, and then went out of his way to help. An action that could have easily gotten him in hot water instead. Despite himself, Adam couldn't ignore when something like that had been done for him, "I believe people always have to pay back what is owed. So one day, I'm going to pay you back, and I'm going to save you! I promise you that."

Adam stayed there pointing, expectantly waiting for some kind of reply.

Shiro stood there dumbstruck, but also incredibly touched. Suffice it to say, that was probably the nicest thing Adam had ever said when addressing him. It was so sweet by comparison, Shiro couldn't help himself but to say, "Aww, my hero."

Adam dropped his hand with a huff, "Ughh, you made it weird. Why do you have to suck so much?" He held his bag tightly, taking off down the hall, "Once I save you, I want nothing to do with you!"

"Adam, wait!" Shiro called out. He wanted to chase after him and continue teasing him, but maybe it was best to leave it like this for now. Shiro had to admit, he was very happy right now, "Pay me back, huh? Then I guess I'll just have to keep saving you."

 **VVVVVVVV**

"Keith. Keith!" Shiro called him over the comms.

"Hang on. I'm almost there," he replied, panting heavily. He was running towards them as fast he could, setting his lungs on fire.

"Good, because these guys just started digging," Shiro informed him.

Shiro and Adam shifted as far back to the cave as they could, still holding each other. The rubble started to give way, the creatures coming into view. A light at the end of the tunnel that promised doom rather salvation. Adam held his metal arm out in front of them, hoping against hope that his shield would activate. If he didn't have to leave his weapon behind, he could have used it to form a makeshift shield to keep the creatures at bay.

"Shiro, I have a visual on the Black Lion," Adam heard Keith say, his face pressed close to Shiro's.

That was good. Unfortunately, the cave was a good distance away from the Black Lion, and it sounded like Keith was barely approaching it. He could definitely help them fight, but if he took too long…

One final piece of rubble was pulled away by a pair of long claws, the rest of the debris caving in and opening the pathway. In seconds, one of the creatures moved the front of its body inside, reaching out to swipe at them.

Without warning, Shiro turned his body on top of Adam's, putting his back to the creatures to protect him. The monster grabbed his leg, claws digging into it, and hauling him out with a painful scream.

"Takashi!" Adam scrambled to get out of the cave as fast as he could. He had to get to him! Reaching the mouth of the cave, another creature tried to bite at him. He brought his metal arm up, the creatures mouth getting a good hold on him, but unable to pierce the reinforced plates under his armor. Instead it just pulled him and threw him out into the open, "Aghh!"

"Shiro, what happened? Shiro!" Keith called out, hearing the commotion from his end, not realizing that the communicator had fallen out of Shiro's ear and was now resting on the ground.

Adam collected himself as he looked up, his brain going into overdrive on what to do next. His weapon was close to the cave entrance, just a few feet from where he was. But on the other side of him was Shiro, sprawled out on his stomach, one of the creatures pressing a leg onto his back to hold him down. He needed to act fast. If he knocked the creature away from Shiro, they would be defenseless, but if he went after his weapon, that thing might kill Shiro before he had a chance to do anything.

Coming to that realization, Adam did the only thing that made sense to him.

"Stay away from him!" Adam roared, jumping at the giant lizard and punching its jaw as hard as he could with his left arm, sending it rolling over. Adam put up his fists, standing between Shiro and the other creatures, "Takashi, get up!"

Shiro struggled to move, but could barely get the front of his body off the floor, "I can't... Hnng… It's my leg," he looked down at it, seeing the side of his leg mangled by claw marks. It wasn't bleeding profusely, but had to have cut something important to render him so immobile, "Adam, just go…"

"NO!" Another creature jumped at Adam, biting down on his arm, its weight sending him falling back onto the ground.

Damn it! Please! He needed his particle shield! Why couldn't it just activate already? Something!

"Adam!" Shiro cried, trying to haul himself over to him, the other creatures enclosing around them, "Adam, just leave! I don't want you here! You have to get away!"

"No, I won't!" The creature realized it wasn't getting through Adam's arm, using the force of it's jaw to throw him across the ground by Shiro. He was shaken up by the motion, but continued speaking as he tried to stand, "I'm not going anywhere. Even if I have to die… I'd rather stay here with you. It's the only place I want to be."

Shiro felt his heart tighten up like a vice, watching Adam struggle to stand after having the wind knocked out of him, seeing drops of water falling from his face onto the dry desert ground. Shiro wanted to cry and scream. Why couldn't Adam just let him go?

Another giant lizard jumped at Adam, wanting to sink its teeth into him. Adam rolled onto his back, shoving his metal fist into its mouth.

Was this really how it was all going to end? _No. Please. Please make it stop._ _Even if I have to die, just save him!_

As that thought crossed Shiro's mind, an earth-shattering stomp and a rush of wind came over them. The Black Lion, stood tall above them, roaring with ferocity. It swiped forward, knocking the giant lizard off of Adam, tearing off Adam's armored gauntlet. The other creatures began to back up in response to this new threat.

Adam quickly got back on his hands and knees, crawling over to Shiro and throwing his body on top of his out of protective instinct. He looked up at the lion, finally realizing just what was happening. The Lion swiped at the group of lizard monsters, knocking them away and chasing them off. Adam couldn't believe it, but then again, he should have expected it. He was always saving Shiro, and now him too he guessed. He really was every bit as talented and amazing as Shiro believed him to be.

"Keith…"

 **VVVVVVVV**

 **3 Years Ago**

Adam walked into his and Shiro's shared apartment, dropping his laptop bag on the couch and walking over to the kitchen where Shiro was sitting.

Adam turned on his coffee brewer, speaking to Shiro while grabbing a cup, "I just got back from Iverson's office. Keith is off the hook for now, but he still has trouble cooperating with others," He set the mug into place, turning to Shiro while waiting for it finish, "You have to know how bad this is reflecting on you."

Shiro put down the pen he was using to grade papers at the table, sighing, "I know, I already talked with him. But his going forward can't be weighed on how it looks on me, it needs to be for his own benefit."

Adam could sense the exasperation in Shiro's tone. It wasn't the first time they had this conversation since Shiro took Keith in about a year ago. And honestly, Adam wasn't the only one. Iverson and many others didn't seem to have much faith in Shiro's choice, only letting things continue on because of all the good will and respect he gathered.

Adam spoke softly, letting him know it wasn't another attack, "I'm just worried about you. Your reputation and everything you've built here mean the world to you. Why would you risk it for someone who barely even wants to be here?"

"This again?" Shiro eyed him tiredly. Well, so much for that.

Adam held his hands up in surrender, "I'm sorry. I just don't see in him whatever it is you see in him," Adam pulled out the seat next to Shiro, sitting next to him to make their conversation more intimate and hopefully less intense, "Why don't you mentor that new golden boy? Griffin I think it was? He sounds like a perfect match for you."

Shiro shuffled through his papers, pulling a test with a near perfect score, the name James Griffin written atop it, "But he's not the one who needs me," Shiro dropped the paper, looking Adam dead in they eye. His brown eyes were lit with a fiery passion, threatening to set Adam's own soul ablaze, "Keith has so much talent, but it's buried underneath all that anger and isolation. No one else believes in him, so he doesn't believe it's worth even trying. He's closed himself off when I know he can be so much more."

Adam gave him a small smile, feeling a strange fondness for the way Shiro was acting. He hadn't seen him be so stubborn about something in awhile. He couldn't explain why, but it made Adam feel a little happy inside, "You have that much faith in him?"

"I do," Shiro responded simply, a little confused by Adam's sudden tender behavior. After a moment he collected himself, clicking his tongue and smirking, "And you weren't a picnic to deal with either when we first met."

Adam rolled his eyes, visibly offended by insinuation that he had anything in common with Shiro's new troublemaker, "The two of us are nothing alike. I never stole your car!"

"No, but you did try to beat me down all the time," Shiro replied smugly, thinking back to their various sparring sessions.

"Because you were such a smug little brat, thinking you could just walk up to me and be friends! What's with that!?" Adam said a little, feigning offense, standing up to grab his cup of coffee now that it finished brewing.

"And I still got through to you didn't I?" Shiro answered, coming up behind Adam and surprising him, wrapping his arms around his waist.

"I…!" Adam tried to think of a comeback, stunned both by Shiro's sudden contact and his infallible logic. Adam turned his head to look at him, scowling, "I don't like when you win arguments."

"I win lots of arguments!" Shiro cried, as if to say, 'what's that supposed to mean?'

Adam reached up, pinching one of Shiro's cheeks, "Only because you're so cute and I hate to see you pout!"

"Hey!" Shiro, swatted his hand away, face automatically turning into the aforementioned pout.

"Point proven," Adam grinned, giving Shiro a quick peck on the cheek, turning to face him directly. Adam fidgeted with Shiro's uniform, straightening out the collar before toying with his dog tags, "But I suppose, if anyone can get through to someone like Keith, it would be you."

Adam was the most closed off person, but Shiro got through to him. He opened his heart to him in a way that he never thought he could, and he was so grateful. The least he could do was return some of that kindness and hope Shiro could do the same thing again.

"Thank you," Shiro said appreciatively, kissing Adam's forehead, "Trust me, one day, he's gonna be a great pilot."

Adam chuckled, "We'll see. You win this round Takashi."

 **VVVVVVVV**

 **Present Day**

Adam bandaged up Shiro's leg with some supplies Keith had in his lion. After rescuing them, Keith took them both over to Red to get some distance from those alien creatures. Whatever had drained the lion's power seemed to have worn off, and Keith set them both up in a protective stance around what was now their makeshift camp.

Keith had set up a fire, and they all leaned against a large flat rock jutting out of the ground. It would be wiser to stay inside the lions given their environment, but there was no predicting what the weather was going to be like. Besides, Keith had managed to scavenge some water from a nearby geyser field somehow. Adam would have to ask about that later, but it was resourceful. He was currently boiling it in a metal bowl, which Adam was pretty sure was a part inside one of the lions. The kid had good survival instincts if nothing else.

"Thanks for saving us," Shiro finally told him, watching the young man work tirelessly.

"Either of you'd have done the same for me," Keith said. He looked at him with concern, "How's your wounds?"

"Their great. Getting bigger all the time," Shiro strained out a chuckle. Keith didn't say anything except continued to look worried, and Adam just gave him a disapproving look as he finished bandaging his leg, "Just trying to lighten the mood," Shiro apologized.

"Still has a terrible sense of humor, so I think he's alright for now," Adam quipped, looking over at Keith reassuringly.

He was lying though. Shiro's condition had him in an internal panic. The wound on his side was one thing, but now he had a huge gash on his leg. He didn't even have enough bandages to cover everything, so his side remained exposed. Without proper care, he was terrified of what would happen to Shiro. And how long did he have before that happened?

"What about you two? Are you okay?" Shiro asked them, seeing Adam's battered state, and knowing Keith came a long way to get to them.

"Would you stop worrying about others for one second and think about yourself for once?" Adam chided him. Was this just some innate character flaw of his? To neglect his own health and safety in exchange for everyone else's? Didn't he understand how that affected Adam?

"I've been selfish enough for one lifetime," Shiro told him, speaking as intensely as he could, but only coming off tired and weak.

Keith looked a little confused by the meaning of that response, realizing something more must have been going on.

Adam looked over at Keith hesitantly, eyes avoiding his, "Keith, can you get some more firewood?"

"Ughh, yeah, sure," Keith stepped up and walked away, reading into the signal for privacy.

Once he was out of earshot, Shiro gazed deeply into the fire, whispering, "I don't deserve your forgiveness, you know."

"Too bad. You have it," Adam pulled Shiro's body towards him, laying his head down into his lap to rest, "But I'm never going to forgive how you keep trying to recklessly throw your life away," Not that Adam was one to talk. He thought on numerous occasions how he would trade his own life for Shiro's… But still! That was something he was allowed to do! Shiro didn't get to be the one who heroically sacrifices his life anymore, leaving him behind. It was Adam's turn to do that. Hypocrisy be damned!

Shiro looked up into Adam's eyes, weary and somber, "I did it again didn't I? I've hurt you," Shiro put a hand to his cheek, rubbing away invisible tears from Adam's face, "I really am an idiot."

"Shut up and save your energy," Adam chided, grabbing Shiro's arm and resting it down against his own chest.

Shiro looked at the ring that was now dangling freely from Adam's neck, having come loose from being knocked around, reaching up only a little bit to twirl it in his fingers, "Sorry I lost… your dog tags."

Adam smiled comfortingly, shaking his head, "It's okay. I don't need them to remember how much I love my brother. And I still have you."

"However long that lasts," Shiro remarked..

"Stop being so damn morbid," Adam clicked his tongue, grabbing Shiro's hand and forcefully pushing it back down to show his irritation. In this state, it was the roughest he could be with him right now. But he would definitely give him a good smack later! He would….

"I'm just being realistic," Shiro stated simply. This wasn't a joke to him. He really believed that he could die here, a reality Adam refused to accept. But Shiro just kept on, looking up at Adam with unmistakable intent, "If I don't make it out of here, I want Keith to lead Voltron."

"What?"

"You saw him too, right? He did it. He flew the Black Lion," Shiro said proudly. When Keith saved them, everything had become clear to Shiro. He saw the person he helped care for and train, be accepted by the ultimate symbol of heroism and leadership, the Black Lion. It had deemed Keith worthy, letting him fly it to save the people he cared about. How could Shiro not be proud? All the effort he put into helping him get on his feet, to become a great man, was proven worthwhile, "He's ready. And if you're there for him, I know he can do it."

Adam had to admit he was a little surprised by that last remark. Him and Adam never had the kind of relationship that Keith had with Shiro. The opposed each other a lot in the beginning, and Keith even hated Adam until recently. How could Shiro think Adam could be any help to him when he had already done so much for him already?

"You have so much faith in him. Even when he was troublesome, and refused to listen to others, you believed he could do it," Adam eyed him attentively. Shiro and Keith always seemed to have this instant connection, like they were brothers, forever looking out for one another. In truth, it's one of the reasons Adam didn't like to be around Keith back then. Seeing them together, it reminded him of his own brother. A bitterness and jealousy was born out of that, and it blinded him to all the good qualities Keith had for so long. But now that he could look past that, he had to know. Had to know Shiro saw, and why he thought Adam could be a worthy successor to his role as Keith's mentor, "Why did you put so much effort into caring for him?"

Shiro scoffed, both amazed and amused that Adam never made the connection before. Shiro squeezed his hand tightly, smiling, "He reminded me… of the first time I met you."

Adam gasped softly, unsure of what to say. That was the reason? That's how it started? He cared for Keith, took him in, believed in him…. because he saw the same things in him he saw in Adam? To think, he was such a driving force in the pair's now familial bond. It was true, Adam and Keith's pasts were very similar. No family, isolated, and angry with others just trying to help. But he never imagined that Shiro took that as a sign to be there for Keith as well. What could he say to that?

Adam regretted how harshly he treated Shiro back when they were kids, but hearing this changed everything. It meant that even at that time, Shiro cherished the time he spent with him. That his confidence and persistence towards making Adam a friend and better person was taken as a lesson, one he applied to another person that desperately needed him. For the first time, Adam felt like something good had come from his anger back then, and it felt like a weight lifted off his chest. How was it that Shiro always knew just what to say? Even injured and exhausted, he was helping Adam, making him feel better. It was amazing. How could he not… love this man?

"Takashi…. I…"

"Adam! Shiro! Look!" Keith's voice cut into Adam's confession, dropping a bundle of dried sticks as he ran towards them. Adam looked over shoulder to see Keith pointing up at the sky. He looked up, seeing a large portal had opened up in the atmosphere, the Green Lion coming out of it, followed by the Castle. However it happened, they had found them, and they were saved. Shiro was saved.

Adam looked down at him, relief coursing through his body like a euphoria, finding that Shiro had not once taken his eyes off of him. Even with a portal being ripped open in the sky, bringing the promise of rescue, he only had eyes for Adam.

Realizing that all his fatalistic promises and wishes were now rendered useless, Shiro could only smile at Adam and say, "Looks like you win this round."

He drifted off to sleep in Adam's arms, finally feeling comfortable enough to do so. Adam nodded. That's right. He did win this round, and he would continue to keep winning. Because he was right, and Shiro was going to be saved. And no matter what, he would always be there for Shiro, to save him and bring him back. And now he didn't have to do it alone. Adam looked up at Keith, catching his gaze, and sharing a smile with him. Adam had a new family with him now, and everything was going to be okay as long as he had that.

 **VVVVVVVV**

In the throne room of the Galra's main command ship, Zarkon and Haggar stood above two of their subjects bowed before them, Thace and Prorok.

"Explain to me how you let Voltron escape," Zarkon inquired, addressing Prorok, the man in charge of the defensive systems during the assault.

"Perhaps it was a mechanical failure, sire. Haggar boosted the solar barrier's power beyond its normal limits," he reasoned. He had no idea what could have made the barrier shut down, or that Thace had been the one to let them go. He could only guess at the cause.

Haggar hissed at him, "This was no mechanical failure. The two sentries that were guarding the barrier control were found destroyed. This was clearly sabotage."

Surprised by that news, Prorok bowed his head again, looking at the floor as he addressed his emperor, "Lord Zarkon, I will start an investigation immediately. I will not rest until the perpetrators are captured."

"Perhaps I can save months of investigating," Zarkon mussed darkly, his gravely voice sounding accusing in nature, "Who has been trying to chisel Voltron away from me this entire time? Who sent his fleet out without my orders to get Voltron?"

"Sire, no! I-I would never do that," Prorok answered in a panic. He only tried to take affirmative action to help Zarkon achieve what he wanted. He wanted to reach the new world that was promised them. He would never jeopardize that!

Zarkon looked over at the two drones standing guard by them, waving his clawed hand at Prorok, "Get rid of him."

"No! I'm innocent!" he screamed, trying to run toward the emperor. His hands were quickly secured behind his back, being dragged out of the room. How could this be happening!? He only wanted to serve!

Prorok continued to kick and scream his protests on the way out, another man passing him to enter the throne room. He stopped, watching the Galra man's boisterous efforts fall on deaf ears with some amusement.

"Before we dispose of him, the druids will find out all that he knows. Then, he will receive a punishment worse than death," Haggar promised Zarkon.

Thace felt a small modicum of guilt for his part in that, but he did what he had to. Voltron needed to be saved, and everyone here was either a bloodthirsty Galra or a mindless servant to Zarkon's cause. Prorok happened to be both, but that didn't mean Thace couldn't feel sympathy for causing someone pain unjustly. The thought that kept him strong was that this was for the greater good, and anyone here would kill him in a second if they had the chance to. No use lingering on sympathies for killers and tyrants.

"Lieutenant Thace You are now in charge of the investigation, Commander," Zarkon told him, letting him know of his sudden promotion to Prorok's spot.

"Vrepit sa," Thace responded, letting no emotion show on his face.

"Congratulations Thace. I'm sure you'll do well," A masculine, but unusually cheerful voice called out behind him.

Thace stood, turning to see the young man enter, finally done watching Prorok's tantrum from being dragged away. Thace sighed a little heavily, probably more than he should have let on, but this guy could be exhausting. Especially when he had no idea where his true loyalties lie.

"Is there a reason you are here Aiden?" Thace asked bitterly.

Aiden waved his hand, stepping by toward the throne before turning to face him directly, "Oh nothing special. I just came down here to give our emperor some news."

He stared Thace down, almost to say that he could see right through him. He kept acting like he knew something about Thace, but never acted on it or even hinted at it in conversation. If he knew Thace's true aim, surely he would take action against him, or maybe even help him. But he did neither. So did that mean he didn't know anything? It was hard to say, and Thace wasn't going to try and pry answers out of such a dangerous weapon.

"Speak," Zarkon ordered, unbothered by Aiden's more casual way of speaking.

Aiden winked at Thace, turning his attention back to Zarkon, wearing a wide grin, "I think I know where we can intercept Voltron."


	13. A Family Affair

**Chapter 12: A Family Affair**

Adam stood in the dimly lit hall of the regeneration pod chamber. He stared at Shiro's peacefully sleeping body inside one of the tubes, dressed in the white spandex suit that he himself wore when he was in there. The purpose of which was to help the body absorb energy from the pod at a much higher rate to reduce recovery time. His condition had gotten pretty bad by the time he was put in the pod, but now he looked like he would wake up any second. Still, Adam couldn't help himself but to check on him consistently.

Seeing Shiro rest so calmly set Adam at ease. His own injuries were far less severe, and only needed to spend a couple hours in one of the pods before he was good to go. But now Adam found it hard to sleep, plagued by nightmares and the knowledge of everything that had happened in such a short timeframe.

Allura had been captured, and they barely managed to make it back from saving her. Despite her overwhelming gratitude and appreciation, she still managed to go into a long rant about how reckless they all were. She wasn't wrong though. On top of that, Shiro was gravely injured and nearly lost control of the Black Lion to their mortal enemy. That would definitely need to be a topic of discussion later. Then finally, everyone got separated because of the Galra's superior tech and magic, and they only managed to reunite thanks to Pidge's genius.

But more important than all of that, was learning the truth of what happened to his brother. He had been captured by the Galra and killed in the gladiator ring, completely changing the foundation of everything Adam had believed in up until that point. The countless nights he spent blaming himself, wallowing in doubts and regrets… the tearful nights. All of it was because the Galra took what was most precious to him, and it filled him with hatred, and a need for revenge. Especially against that damned Witch.

He was still trying to process it all and what this new information meant to him. How it had changed him and affected his whole life, and how it was determining the course of his future. These thoughts ran through Adam's mind over and over, like a booming voice that wouldn't let him so much as entertain the idea of a proper night's sleep. Standing here, watching Shiro rest was the only thing that set him at ease. Knowing the Galra hadn't managed to take everything from him, and seeing the man he loved come back to him over and over again, gave him peace. As long as Shiro was by his side, he had clarity of mind.

"Shouldn't you still be resting?" a voice called out to him softly.

Adam looked over, seeing Keith approach him, only wearing his black shirt and a pair of gray sweatpants, "I could ask you the same thing," Adam smirked, looking back at Shiro as Keith joined his side, "I just wanted to check on him. He was pretty weak when we finally got him treatment."

"Another day or two and he should be just fine," Keith sighed, both from exhaustion and relief.

"That's thanks to you, you know?" Adam said, eyeing him with a look of appreciation the young man had never seen before.

"I didn't do anything anyone else here wouldn't do," Keith dismissed. Being praised by Adam was still such a foreign experience to him. He liked it, but also had an innate urge to defy or argue against him. Habits really did take a long time to get over.

"But you did do more," Adam deadpanned, wanting to convey just how significant Keith's actions were.

"Huh?"

"Keith, you flew the Black Lion. I may not understand all this Voltron nonsense, but I don't think it would have accepted you unless you were truly capable of it. Of being a leader."

Keith stepped away from Adam, confusion and hints of fear evident in his demeanor. He was overwhelmed by Adam's words, finding it hard to find his voice, "No, that… That's not me."

"Takashi seems to think it is," Adam gestured toward the sleeping man, "He told me if anything ever happened to him, that he wants you to fly the Black Lion."

After all the doubts Adam had placed on Keith, he figured this was the least he could do for the young man. Letting him know that he had what it took to be a worthy leader, that he was supported by the one man he plainly admired; was something Keith needed to hear, and Adam needed to say.

"I don't think I'm ready for that," Keith whispered, looking up at Adam with a childlike uncertainty.

It was a look he had only seen the him give to Shiro before. A look that told him he let all his defenses down and was allowing himself to be vulnerable. Growing up like he did, Keith always tried to pretend to be headstrong and resilient, letting his weaknesses show only in brief moments to the one he considered family. That expression, which was only reserved for the man they both cared about, was now turned toward Adam.

Their relationship really had changed, hadn't it?

"You will one day," Adam said supportively, "I'm sorry for not believing in you more. Back then I thought you were just some delinquent kid putting Takashi's reputation at risk. But now I see how much you care for him, and how much he cares about you."

Keith blushed lightly, clearly not used to so much honest praise at once. He crossed his arms, as if it would somehow protect himself from more compliments.

"He cares about you too," Keith said quickly, only able to look at him from the corner of his eye.

Adam chuckled, "I know he does. Although he has a funny way of showing it sometimes…"

Adam found himself thinking back to what Shiro told him in the cave as he trailed off. To think Shiro was so plagued by his own guilt. Thinking his actions completely self-serving, he also wanted to protect Adam from a difficult life of hardship. It was definitely funny, in an ironically grim sort of way. Shiro had managed to be completely selfless at the same time he was at his most selfish. What kind of man could even do that!?

Nevertheless, Adam forgave him, willingly. He didn't share Shiro's idea that all the blame should be on him. Even if Shiro did push them in that direction, Adam made his own mistakes too, and his own choices. Shiro couldn't hog all the blame and regret for himself. That was Adam's shtick!

But he had to wonder, how would the two of them act toward each other now that everything was out in the open? Adam had freely admitted his love just as Shiro vented his guilt. They had no more walls to hide behind, and there was no way of telling where they would turn now. When he finally awoke from the pod, what would their relationship be?

"What do you mean by that?" Keith followed up, apparently hearing the end of Adam's sentence. The kid had sharp ears, he had to give him that.

Adam shook his head, "Nothing. Just do me a favor? Help me protect Takashi. We wouldn't want you having to take up the mantle of leader too soon, right?" Adam half-joked.

"He doesn't need protecting," Keith insisted.

Despite saving him countless times, Keith had a steadfast belief Shiro was perfectly capable on his own. It was just like a younger brother looking up to his older sibling. He would do anything to protect him, but also idolized him and believed he was capable of anything. It was sweet, but could be difficult to reason with at times.

"No, but he does need someone to look out for him. And with the threat we're facing, anything could happen," Adam said, cleverly wording it so as not to hurt Keith's pride or diminish his belief in Shiro. He didn't have a degree in psychology for nothing. He looked up at Shiro tenderly, driving his point home, "Besides, when it's someone you love, you can't help but want to keep them safe."

Keith quirked an eyebrow, looking at Adam with clear amusement, "You know, last time I asked if you still had feelings for Shiro, you were pretty reluctant to answer. Now you're just openly stating your affections."

Damn. He had done that, hadn't he? He was letting his guard down more and more around this kid.

Adam nodded weakly, a little embarrassed at himself, but also happy to be able to actually open up to someone different for a change, "Only because I trust you so much."

At those words, Keith suddenly became more contemplative. The change in dynamic between the two of them seemed to spark a thought in him.

Keith looked around the futuristic castle they were currently flying in, "A lot has changed in a few short weeks, huh? And somehow it feels like no time has passed at all," That was the understatement of the year. They had gone from running drills on Earth to an intergalactic battle for the whole universe, and with it came changes to numerous relationship dynamics. Knowing just how jarring the change was for Adam especially, Keith asked, "Do you ever think of going back to Earth? You said there was nothing left for you there. But don't you want to go home?"

Adam felt still and uncertain. There was a time when that might have been true, but was it still? Probably not. He hated deep space and fighting in this war, but there was nowhere else he'd rather be. That begged the question, what did Adam consider to be him home? What did that notion constitute? He didn't feel any fealty toward returning to Earth, so that didn't seem likely. Plus, the only reason he initially wanted to stay here was because this was where Shiro was. So maybe he had no home, unless…

"Eventually I would like to go back to Earth. There are some people I need to make amends with," Adam lamented. Apologizing to his friends was something he definitely needed to set right, regardless of where he belonged. He owed them a great debt for all they had done for him, and he had every intention of paying it back, "But as for going home, I'm already here."

"The castle?" Keith smiled, a little surprised Adam could ever think of something flying through space as his home.

Adam scoffed, "This floating death trap? Not a chance in hell."

Keith laughed in response. That was about the answer he expected. But it really spoke to Adam's conviction and strength of character to be here through all of this, despite his fears. Keith respected that.

"I don't know what I expected."

Adam smiled at him, taking a heavy sigh and looking back at Shiro with an intimate fondness. How could it have taken him so long to come to this answer? It seemed so obvious. But now that he had it, he spoke to Keith with unyielding pride, as if he knew it all along, "You know, everyone assumes 'home' is a place. It can be a person."

Keith looked back at the man they both shared a strong connection with, understanding him even better than he might think, "Yeah."

Their bonds with him were different, but no less important than the other. He had saved both of them in their own respective ways, and gave new meaning to their lives. They loved him, cherished him, and happy to be here with him. That's all they really needed to be happy. To be home.

 **VVVVVVVV**

The next morning, Adam and the others all gathered in the common room hall to talk about their next move. With Shiro still out of commission, and the ship in need of repairs, their actions seemed limited. But given their recent undertaking, it was important to get everything out in the open.

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Hunk asked aloud.

"With Shiro out of commission we can't form Voltron or run any missions," Lance reasoned, wonder what the point of this meeting even was. After his underwater adventure with Hunk while they were separated, he wasn't as keen on going to alien planets without the full support of his team. It was surprisingly cautious of him, but respectable.

Allura spoke up, "I think we all need a chance to lick our wounds and recover. Your foolhardy rescue mission…"

"You're welcome," Adam cut in a little curtly, reminding her it had been for her benefit. She didn't need to keep lecturing them on it.

"…Left us severely weakened, both in attack power and defenses. Although I am grateful," she said toward Adam, reminding him that she wasn't unappreciative of what they had done. Just that it had been a great risk.

"Allura's right! Everyone rest up, and we'll make necessary repairs to the castle," Coran said excitedly. Did the guy ever sit down? Adam was pretty sure he had only ever seen him standing.

Everyone murmured some sign or noise of agreement, but that just wouldn't do for Adam. They were crippled, yes; but that didn't mean they weren't completely incapable. There was still actions to be took, and things to be learned.

"I think we can do more than that," Adam told them all, rising to his feet.

"You have an idea?" Keith asked, openly responsive to whatever his suggestion might be.

He nodded, "I do. Pidge, can you start pooling through the Galra data we collected again?"

"Of course, but what am I looking for?"

"Look for any site where the Galra run their experiments," he instructed.

After what he learned about his brother, and what happened to Shiro, he had a strong motivation to track down the witch and any trace of her experiments. Not only that, but if they could enhance Shiro and Sendak with metal prosthetics, it would pay off to learn what else they might be doing to their own soldiers. Getting a better idea of what they were up against would be a worthwhile pursuit.

"You want to run another mission? After what we just went through!?" Allura asked bewildered, getting a little upset at his suggestion. Although, Adam was pretty expectant of her disapproval.

"We don't even have Voltron. We should wait until everyone is recovered!" Lance whined in his usual way, riding the same wavelength as Allura.

"Waiting is not going to do anyone any good. Our enemy gets stronger with every second, and we still know very little about what they're doing now," Adam argued. He put his hands on his hips, speaking a little softer as he looked over at Keith, "Besides, it'd be best if Shiro wasn't awake for this."

Keith looked back at him with mild concern. He understood what he was getting at almost immediately. If Adam wanted to explore an experimental facility, it could be potentially traumatic for the Shiro considering what was done to him. Keith silently agreed with the spectacled man, finding it best to run this operation now.

"What are you even hoping to find?" Hunk asked, curious himself as to the purpose.

"When we were trying to escape the Central Command, they had the huge energy dome that kept us from teleporting. If it hadn't malfunctioned or whatever happened, we would all probably be dead," Adam said, reminding them of their rescue mishap and sheer luck in surviving.

"What does that have to do with this?" Allura asked, becoming more impatient.

"Intel. You've been asleep for thousands of years, and we didn't even know the Galra existed until a couple weeks ago. We have no idea what kind of technology they have to use against us," Adam reasoned out. That seemed to strike a chord with the Altean princess, seeing first hand how they were outmatched and their technology had changed since her time, "If we run a covert mission on wherever they are conducting experiments, we can learn more about our enemy before our next move. And they'll never expect us to do something like this so soon after our last encounter."

"It's not a bad idea," Allura conceded, but still visibly bitter. She was just very concerned, so much that she even risked her life for them before. Adam just needed to convince her the operation would be exclusively beneficial.

"The experiments they ran on Shiro, and maybe even my brother, it all had to be building to something. We've been lucky up to this point. Now we need to know what we're really up against."

"I still don't like the idea of running this operation so soon after what just happened," Allura understood the merit of what he was trying to do, but it still made her uneasy.

"Experimental sites like these probably have multiple locations. I can pull up the smallest one to minimize our obstacles," Pidge offered up to reduce her stress.

"I can easily lead a covert mission while everyone else is on standby with their lions," Adam said. He had great experience in stealth operations, and this was right in his wheelhouse. He wouldn't have offered the idea otherwise.

"Don't you need Shiro's arm to interact with all the fancy Galra tech?" Lance questioned, remembering their previous difficulties with the tech, and pointing out their leader's current incapacitated state.

"I just need an arm to open the doors, doesn't necessarily have to be Takashi's, or attached to anybody," Adam shrugged.

"Gross," Hunk squirmed.

"Besides, Pidge will come with me," he said matter-of-factly.

"She will?" Pidge asked in bewilderment.

"You will," Adam affirmed, turning back to Allura, "With her help we can extract enough data, even without Shiro's arm."

Pidge had run multiple scans on Shiro's arm with Adam's help and had been developing an algorithm to bypass Galran security systems. She wasn't able to finish it before their rescue attempt on the princess, but had been developing it more during their brief period of rest. And even if it didn't work, Adam could just make good on his joke to snatch a Galran's arm.

"I'll go with you," Keith stepped forward, ready to support him in light of their new relationship.

"No, I need you to stay here with the others," Adam denied him, "If something goes wrong, you lead the others to our location."

"But I…!" Keith wanted to protest him.

Adam set a hand on his shoulder, using the same sign of trust and respect that was shared between the young man and Shiro. He needed to emphasize the importance of his request, and this simple gesture seemed the best way to go. And maybe in a way, it was becoming his gesture too.

"Please, Keith."

Keith was at a loss for words, torn between wanting to help Adam and doing what was asked of him, "Ah…. Alright."

"I suppose gaining valuable information is better than waiting around," Allura agreed, "But the second something goes wrong, we're pulling you out and leaving through the next wormhole!"

"Deal," Adam agreed, "Pidge, find us a science lab to raid!"

 **VVVVVVVV**

Adam rode with Pidge in the cockpit of the Green Lion. It didn't take her very long to find a suitable base to invade. Once she did, they loaded up their gear and had Allura teleport the castle to a hidden, but nearby, location. They rode mostly in silence, Adam wholeheartedly focused on the mission ahead. Pidge on the other hand was troubled by something.

"It may not be my place to ask, but… are you hoping to find more information about your brother?"

Pidge looked apprehensive, almost like she was scared to even ask the question. It was a sensitive topic, but given her own situation, Adam didn't know why she was so hesitant.

"Wondering why I pushed for this mission so hard, are you?" Adam asked. She was a lot more perceptive than he realized.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to…" Pidge stammered.

He waved her off, "It's alright. If anyone has a right to ask, it's you. But no, that's not the reason. At least not completely. Although I do have several others."

As far as he knew, Aiden was killed in the gladiator ring like their previously recovered data had said. There was no reason to suspect he was experimented on, other than the fact he was another prisoner under Haggar. But stealing this base's information could finally prove or disprove that. That aside, there were other benefits to steaking the data. It could clue them into weaknesses the Galra's forces may have, and why all their soldiers weren't enhanced the way Shiro had been. It may even show them how to get close to the Witch.

"Like what?" Pidge pressed on.

"Shiro was taken to one of these places and given his arm. For one thing, maybe I can learn more about what they did to him. But not only that, we went into Allura's rescue mission woefully unprepared. We and can't let that happen again, so we need to learn what kinds of weapons they might have against us," Adam told her simply, reiterating the point he made in the castle, "As for my brother… he's not coming back."

Adam's voice became tense, a twinge of pain striking his heart. He still hadn't fully come to terms with his older brother's fate. For a long time he had thought his brother had died quickly in some sort of space travel related incident. An accident that Adam long blamed himself for, because he didn't have the strength to ask his brother to stay on Earth with him. He shouldn't have felt guilt for that, as Shiro told him on many occasions. He was just letting Aiden pursue his dreams, and that was no reason to hold onto guilt for what ended up happening to him. But Adam couldn't help but carry that guilt anyway, despite knowing that truth.

However, now Adam knew what the true cause of his brother's death was. He was taken by the Galra, tortured, and put through pain to fight for their entertainment. He was killed in the ring, never knowing why he was put in such a horrible situation, never knowing what would become of his younger brother. He would never get the chance to reunite with him, and it was all because of the Galra. It was all because of the Witch. And it set his soul on fire with the flames of vengeance.

"I'm sorry…" Pidge said weakly, unsure of what else she could say.

Adam looked ahead, patting her back, "Don't worry. I'm going to avenge him, by taking down the Galra and killing Zarkon and his Witch."

Pidge didn't disagree with his sentiment, but that biting hatred at the end of his sentence made her feel a little uneasy. It was a side of Adam she had never seen before, and she had to wonder if it had to do with the truth he learned about his brother. It was like it had awakened something dark in him, and he was just itching to release it on their enemies. It was good to have motivation, but the connection she felt with Adam over their shared family ties now felt so disconnected. Was this how she would act if she discovered her own brother was killed? Was this the fate that awaited her?

 **VVVVVVVV**

Pidge and Adam slipped into the base relatively easy. With such a small isolated location, defenses and security were quite lacking. Pidge didn't seem to have any trouble hacking their surveillance and looping the feed either.

It took only a mere few minutes before they found themselves at a room with a computer terminal. Most of the base's lower floors were holding cells and medical chambers, which were more or less empty right now. That just left the top floors, and examination rooms, which were thankfully practically unguarded.

Adam and Pidge sat out in the hallway, looking into the computer terminal room and seeing two average Galra soldiers messing around on the terminals.

"There's two guards," Pidge whispered over the comms in their helmets.

"Wow. Their security really is lax here," Adam said.

"They control practically every known system in this galaxy. I don't think they have to worry about resistance," Pidge reasoned. Made sense.

"They do now," Adam said, grabbing his weapon and holding it at the ready.

"What's the plan?" she asked, grabbing her own weapon, ready to fight.

"Cover your eyes, or look away," he told her seriously.

"Wha…"

She went to ask what he meant by that, but he was already stalking into the room, his weapon turning into a sharp broad dagger.

He quickly moved behind the first one, grabbing his head, twisting with all his might and snapping his neck. The sound of his body collapsing to the floor and sudden movements alerted the second guard. He turned, seeing Adam and pulling up his gun to shoot. Adam just tossed his dagger straight at the Galran man, the blade lodging in his throat just over his armor plate. He choked in surprise, dropping his gun to reach up and grab at the knife, but he fell to the floor dead almost immediately.

Pidge followed Adam inside, watching as Adam pulled his weapon from the dead man's throat, wiping the purple blood off before setting it back to its regular shape.

"There, that's two less to worry about," Adam told her, rather straightforward and unfeeling.

"Did… did you have to kill them?" She said with uncertainty. It's not like they hadn't killed Galra soldiers before, but that seemed more brutal than usual. It just unnerved her how quickly and almost robotically he dispatched them when they could have just knocked them out.

"Don't forget, these men are guards of a facility where innocent prisoners are tortured and experimented on."

Adam figured Pidge would be bothered by more visceral death or actions. At most, she's seen guards shot and killed in the heat of battle. Otherwise they were faceless soldiers blown up in larger ships that her and Voltron blew up and destroyed. That kind of death was impersonal and disconnected. Something that was more suitable for a young girl with such a kind heart. It's why he wanted her to look away in the first place.

Still, this wasn't something she could ignore. She would have to accept the cost of battle sooner or later. And letting her know these people were monsters that hurt others was the only way he could soften the blow.

"Right…."

Pidge still looked deeply troubled, setting her weapon back in its holster. Maybe he overestimated her ability to process this kind of stuff. She was still just a teenage girl after all.

"It's okay if this bothers you. War is a difficult time. It takes a special kind of conviction to face your enemies and take their lives away," he put an arm around her shoulder, guiding her past the dead bodies and towards the computer, her comfort zone, "I happen to have that conviction in spades. Out of my desire to protect all of you, and vengeance for the pain they put my brother through."

"But, isn't that what I'm supposed to do too?" she said, looking up at him with remorse as she sat down.

Is that why she was bothered? Because she felt like she _had_ to do what Adam had just done? Or was she scared that she would have to end up doing the same thing? It would explain why she was so unnerved all of a sudden. She was taking their similarities as a roadmap for what was to come for her, and it was scaring her. Their situations with their families were similar, but there were also differences. Unlike Adam, there was a chance her brother was still alive. And not only that, but they were very different people.

"No," Adam insisted, kneeling down to her level, "Yes you have to fight the Galra, same as all of us, but you do it to save people. To save your family, your friends, and all the people suffering," he looked over his shoulder at the dead bodies, "War is brutal. It makes you question your own humanity and reflect on the lives you've taken. Just remember all the suffering the Galra have brought. Sometimes killing them is the only answer, and it makes the universe a safer place. But you don't always have to. If you can spare someone's life, then you should. Don't let my actions dictate what you should do."

"Got it," she said, sounding a little more sure of herself. She was appeased by Adam's words, but still couldn't shake that slight discomfort over how easily Adam himself killed others.

"Better get to work. We don't know how long hey have before their next guard rotation," he told her, putting her mind where it should be.

"That should be awhile. Their forces are much smaller than they used to be," she said, pulling up personal records on the terminal.

"How do you know that?"

"From what I can tell in the data, this location is mostly used for science experiments and soldier enhancements now. The Witch has moved her personal experiments to more secure locations, and most of this base's forces went with them."

"Makes sense," No point in keeping guards in a base where the real testing was no longer taking place. But there should still be records to look into, "Can you access the research data?"

Pidge typed away for a brief moment, before the screen locked out, "No, I can't."

"Does it need a handprint?"

"It's not that. This is an encrypted database, and we're only at a remote terminal. We need to go to the main control terminal and enter in the decryption key," she said, getting out the chair and ready to move.

"So we're up a creek?" Adam sighed.

"Basically. I could probably get by without the passcode if we get there, but it would take a few hours."

Well they didn't have that kind of time. They have their best guards in position there as well. They might be able to coerce the passcode out of one of the guards, but still. It'd probably be the hardest area to access and they could potentially alert the whole base. Should they even bother trying?

As Adam mulled over the possibilities, he saw a shadow rush by from the doorway.

"Shit!" he yelled, taking off after it.

"Where are you going!?" Pidge yelled, running after him.

"Someone saw us!"

"Adam wait!"

Adam ran down the corridors, following the loud clatter of footsteps and the shadow of someone running ahead of him. Screw the possibilities, if this person managed to alert the whole base then they were done for. This would be another Allura situation all over again, and Adam wasn't about to let that happen.

He ran down the winding corridors, hearing the soft patter of steps behind him as Pidge did her best to keep up. He didn't want to risk losing her, but he couldn't stop. Catching this mystery person was the key to their survival. But something was off. Shouldn't the guards have radios to call for help? And why did this guard seem to be running in circles instead of trying to fight. Wasn't that the Galra's whole thing? Fight or die?

He managed to corner the figure in a dead-end path, ending in a large circular room with only one exit behind him. The figure turned around, leaning back against the wall and crouching down like a scared rabbit. It was only then Adam could fully see the features of the Galra he was chasing. He kept his sword raised at him, making sure he didn't try to run off. Pidge caught up with him, gasping for breath and coming to a stop as she saw what Adam saw.

"You're… you're just a kid," she panted.

The young man in front of them was definitely Galra, but his stature was shorter, and his features were rounder than an average Galra male. He looked about the same age as Pidge, maybe a little bit older, but still obviously young.

"Why are you here?" Adam pressed threateningly, thrusting his sword forward a little to emphasize his point. He wasn't going to let his guard down just because of the kid's age.

"Are they running experiments on you?" Pidge asked, taking a slight step forward. Adam held a hand out in front of her, warning her not to get any closer to the boy.

The kid didn't say anything. He just started back at them with fearful disdain. He was scared, that was evident by his body language. Other than that, his expression told them that he held serious contempt for them, not much of a surprise really. Still, he was a Galran, and he could be more dangerous than he was letting on.

"Start talking," Adam ordered, stepping forward slightly. He needed answers from this kid so he could decide what to do with him.

"Adam," Pidge grabbed his arm, pulling at his arm to keep him back. She wasn't trying to protect him from the young man, but rather the other way around, "He's a child."

"He's no younger than you, and he's in a high-tech experimental facility. He could be lying to us, or worse yet, he could be an experiment himself. The second we let down our guard, he might try to kill us or pull the alarm," Adam started listing off his concerns, letting her know the urgent need for answers.

"That's not true!" the young boy yelled, offended by the insinuations Adam was making.

"So, you _can_ talk," Adam said smugly, walking back over and once again pointing his weapon in the boy's direction.

The kid scoffed, realizing his only option was to keep talking. His words came out bitter and annoyed, "I hate this. I hate being here. The only reason I'm here is to save my brother!"

Adam felt a pang in his heart at hearing those words. He remained steady, but lowered his weapon, "Explain."

The boy seemed to notice Adam's softening demeanor. Well, not softening. At least he wasn't pointing a blade at him anymore. Either way, he figured it best to continue down that track of telling them the truth.

"My brother volunteered to come here when he heard Voltron was demolishing Zarkon's forces. He thought putting himself up for enhancement experiments would give him an advantage in battle, and would set a trend for others soldiers to follow suit."

"And you want to stop him, I'm guessing?" Pidge asked with a softer but urging tone. She was definitely the 'good cop' in this little scenario.

"My brother is stupidly dedicated to this fight. He believes in Zarkon and the universal order he's trying to create," the boy's voice turned bitter again, but it wasn't directed at them. More it was a reflection of what he thought of his brother's actions, and the empire that ruled them. This kid pretty much wore his heart on his sleeve.

"And you don't believe in that order?" Adam asked, maybe a bit harsher in tone than he needed. He wasn't ready to let up this hardened persona just yet though, no matter how convincing the young man sounded.

The young Galra practically spat in Adam's direction, "I could care less about Zarkon. I could less about you either. If you want to fight and kill each other, go ahead. I just want my brother to stay safe," his voice softened with sincerity, "That's why I snuck onto this base. When I heard they appointed him as chief guard here until they could experiment on him, I had to do something. I wanted to keep him from going through with this. So I snuck onto their last supply transp."

That was quite the dedication. Adam had to admire him for that. His actions suggested he'd been here for at least a day then, keeping low and staying off the guard's radar. Otherwise they would have sent him back already. That meant he knew his way around for the most part. They probably just got lucky backing him into a corner when Adam gave chase.

However, that also meant the kid had refused to confront his brother so far. That indicated that he didn't have a real plan. Most likely, he just seized the opportunity to follow his brother the first chance he got. That's if he was telling the truth. All this could be much more easily explained if he was lying to them, or was a test subject that just managed to escape as Adam and Pidge arrived.

"Maybe we can help. If we…." Pidge started.

"Pidge," Adam grabbed her arm, puling her away to talk in private, "We can't just run off to help him."

"Why not?"

"How about the fact that we're not supposed to even be here? This is a stealth mission. We can't go running around this place like it's nothing, even with their reduced forces. We're supposed to grab the intel and get out, which we just learned, we can't get!"

"So you want to just leave him here?" she spat at him.

She was very much opposed to the idea. She saw something in him. A potential for other Galra like him to turn against Zarkon and fight for what was right. At the very least, he was just a kid looking for his older brother, just like Adam, just like her.

"No," Adam looked over at him, turning his sword into a broadhead. One that could lop the kid's head off with one thrust, "He's seen us. We can't just let him go."

"What are you talking about!?" Pidge became instantly alarmed. He wasn't seriously thinking of….

"If you're going to kill me, then get on with it. Just stay away from my brother," the boy remained still, pressed up against the wall on the ground. He accepted his fate, but was still bargaining for his family's life. It was quite noble.

Adam held his newly formed weapon firm in his hand, marching over to the young boy.

"Wait! I thought you just wanted information on their experiments!? We can just leave! You don't have to kill him!" Pidge practically screamed. She wanted to reason with him, stop him, but she couldn't think of any action to take. All she could do was watch and yell, seeing as Adam lifted his sword above the kid's head, and thrusting down with all his might, "ADAM!"

The boy shut his eyes tight, bracing himself for the strike that would kill him, but it never came. He felt no pain, no blood pooling down his body, nothing. All he had heard was the clang and scrape of metal giving way to metal. At first he thought it had been the wall behind his head, but soon realized the sound only came from his right side. He looked over, seeing the blade stuck in the wall next to his head, Adam looming over him with a strange mixture of menace and understanding.

Adam stood there, with his sword in the wall, unmoving as he spoke to the boy, "My brother was taken and killed by the Galra, and her brother is missing now too because of them," he nodded back towards Pidge, "If we had the chance, we'd do anything for our family. Are you willing to do the same?"

"Without question," he wasn't sure what this human man was trying to get at, but it didn't involve killing him. That was good enough.

"Then help us get the information we need, and we'll help you save your brother from himself. You said your brother was appointed as chief guard here. That means he should have the access codes we need. Help us get them, and you both can go off free," Adam offered, "You don't even care about this war, right?"

Pidge shivered with relief. Had that really what he'd been thinking about the whole time? For a split second, Pidge genuinely believed he was going to kill him. Maybe this was just an elaborate intimidation tactic. One that would let Adam convey just how serious he was, and see if the boy was really telling the truth. She'd been doubting herself and Adam this whole mission, and now she was feeling a little guilty over it. She should give him more credit considering his intelligence and experience.

"You'll really help me save him?" the young boy asked with mild uncertainty. He realized there was a clear benefit and trade-off to this arrangement, but he still never thought he'd get help from the people who killed so many Galra. Especially not after seeing the way the purple one killed two guards without hesitation.

"In exchange for what we need. But if your brother attacks us, we won't hesitate to defend ourselves. If you want to save him, you need to make him stand down. Put your own life on the line," Adam said plainly, laying everything out without remorse or question.

That seemed to satisfy the young man. Adam didn't treat him with kid gloves or try to lie. He laid out his intentions plain and clear, letting him know the benefit in exchange for their help. The boy smiled, "You've got a deal."

"What's your name?" Pidge asked, giving out a much friendlier vibe.

"Miro," he said, rising to his feet. He was only a few feet taller than Pidge, which meant he had to be about her age based on the standard height and biology of most Galra soldiers.

"Alright then Miro, lead the way," Adam said, no longer sounding threatening, but not trying to seem friendly either. They had an arrangement. No reason to stand on false ceremony.

Miro nodded, walking past them to show them the way to the control room. In a weird sort of way, he appreciated Adam's forthright attitude. Something told Adam that he hadn't gotten that much in his life. A common feeling amongst most younger siblings.

Pidge waited until Miro was out of earshot, looking up at Adam with appreciation, "Thank you."

Adam net her eyes. She really was a soft-hearted person. Maybe too much for her own good. But if he could get them what they needed, and not have to kill this boy and his brother, then it would be better for all of them in the long run. That was the ideal scenario anyway.

"Don't thank me just yet. He could still be lying to us. We have to see how this plays out," he said reminding her this could still all be an elaborate lie. Adam was good at reading people usually, save for Shiro. Everything told him this boy was telling the truth. So why… why did he have this eerie feeling pressing on his mind? Why did he have this unshaking feeling, like something was about to go wrong?

 **VVVVVVVV**

"You don't have to kill him! ADAM!"

Aiden watched the interaction play out, the footage broadcasting to his security terminal back on Zarkon's central command. He had hidden surveillance cameras installed at key points on the base so he could continue watching them when the paladins inevitably cut the base's camera feed. Ke knew exactly which base they were going to strike and planned accordingly.

"Well look at that," Aiden mulled with amusement as he watched his brother respond to the young girl's desperate cry, "You're still as soft as ever Adam. I'm glad."

Thace came to stand next to him, looking over his shoulder at the screen, speaking with his signature dissatisfied voice that he only reserved for Aiden.

"I don't understand why you set this up. If you knew Voltron was going to be there, why not just prepare an ambush to capture them all?"

Aiden stood up tall, looking at Thace with playful sincerity, "They barely escaped their last attack on central. They're not about to risk their entire force in another strike so soon. This merely provides us with an opportunity to gain intel on them and their fighting styles," he looked at Thace as if he was seeing right through him, "And I don't see a point in making a move if we can't take them all at once."

Thace crossed his arms, dismissing that subtle insinuation, "How did you even know they would choose this base?"

Aiden came to Thace's side, throwing an arm over his shoulder. He stifled a laugh as he felt the Galran man tense up under his touch, "After seeing our technology, and no doubt realizing they were outmatched, they would want to acquire information on our resources. Based on the intel they stole from us when we captured the princess, this base showed the lowest number of defenses and guards on record."

Thace wanted to step away from him, but he stood firm. Was this some kind of weird intimidation tactic he was trying to use on him? If it was, he wasn't about to let his discomfort show. Not until he could get a read on what this man's intentions were.

"But there are other bases more secluded and with fewer defenses in those records. All of them specializing in some aspect of technology. Why that one?" Thace continued on, wanting to know how Aiden knew so much about the paladin's actions. And more importantly, why he was so invested in them as individuals.

"Because it's one of the bases where the witch ran her experiments," Aiden shrugged, releasing Thace for lack of a reaction.

The witch, huh?

Thace gestured toward the screen at Adam, "This has to do with that man, doesn't it? He's looking for you."

Thace didn't fully understand it, but he knew enough to know there had to be some kind of a connection. The only reason he told Aiden about the showdown Haggar and Sendak had with the paladins was because he wanted to learn how much interest Aiden had in the Champion. He knew about their shared history, and wanted to see if there was anything worth learning from it. But now that connection seemed to spawn in new directions, one that involved this young man with the glasses.

He was close to the Champion himself. If he was aware that the Champion was connected to Aiden, and both led back to the Witch's experiments, then he would take an interest. Why else would he be the one to invade the base unless he was looking for information to explore that connection?

Aiden shook his head, dismissing that theory, "No. Not entirely. But the pieces are related. My guess is he wants to kill Haggar, and he is searching for a way to do it, while also gaining information on what kind of advanced soldiers they may have developed."

"May I ask, what your interest in this man is? I thought you wanted to know about the Champion?" Thace pressed on.

Aiden gave him a side-eyed look, one that was so menacing it sent a chill down Thace's spine, "They're both connected. No need to worry about my interests," Aiden faced him head-on, putting on his overly enthusiastic smile once again, "After all, aren't you supposed to be looking for a traitor?"

Thace sighed, heading for the exit, "It would go faster if you didn't use my resources to run your little spy operation. Don't you have your own equipment?"

Of course, Thace felt like he already knew the answer. Aiden was intentionally using Thace's resources specifically so he could keep an eye on him. Right? He had to. He always acted like he knew something about Thace, but never acted on it or suggested otherwise. Still, that wasn't necessarily an affirmation.

"I like the company," Aiden teased, "Now are you going to go do your job, or are you going to stay here and watch the show with me?"

"I have people to interrogate," Thace said flatly, pressing his palm against the door panel to open and leaving.

"Suit yourself," Aiden shrugged, turning back to the monitor as Thace left the room. Aiden watched intently as Adam and Pidge followed after the young Galra boy. Time to see how this next part would play out, "Oh little fishy, come see my hook."

 **VVVVVVVV**

"So this is the control room?" Adam said aloud.

He walked in, side by side with Pidge and Miro. There was only one guard in the control room itself, Miro's brother. It was quite fortunate, and would make things incredibly simple.

"Intruders!" Miro's brother yelled. He pointed his gun at them, about to press the alarm on the main console.

"Byro! Wait!" Miro yelled, rushing a few steps in front of Adam.

"Miro!? What are you doing here!?" Byro froze, not noticing his brother's presence right away.

Miro took a deep breath. This was his chance. This was the moment he had been waiting for to bring his brother home. He started speaking, putting every ounce of emotion that he could into his words.

"Please brother, just stop this! I don't want you to put your life at risk on these ridiculous experiments. Just come home with me!" he pleaded.

Byro continued pointing his gun at Adam and Pidge, now concerned with his brother's safety, "I don't know what these people told you, but they are the paladins of Voltron! They are a threat to Zarkon's rule! Now get away from them, before they kill us all!"

"They're not gonna hurt us! They just want this base's intel," Miro explained.

Maybe that wasn't the best way to go about it. You don't exactly just go up to someone and tell them you want to take what's theirs.

Byro responded accordingly, taking an aggressive step forward, "Over my dead body. They can keep tearing down Zarkon's empire with this information!"

"Then let them!" Miro screamed, "I don't care about Zarkon, or his universal order! I just want to go home with you!"

Byro faltered for a moment, realizing just how much this was affecting his younger brother. But he couldn't just stop. Not in this situation. Not now.

"And I want to go home with you, but I also want to make this universe a better place for everyone," he said sympathetically, moving backwards toward the alarm.

"Sorry kid," Adam whispered to him.

"Huh?"

With a swift motion, Adam snatched Miro up off his feet, an arm curled around his chest to hold him up. He held Miro's body in front of his own face and chest to shield him from any potential retaliation against the young Galra's brother. Adam grabbed his weapon, turning it into a curved dagger and holding it threateningly near the boy's throat.

"Now put down your weapon and back away from the alarm!" Adam ordered, his body language and tone firm and resolute. He didn't want to show any sign of weakness or hesitation that might make Byro falter and take a chance. He needed to make him listen without question.

"Miro! Let him go you bastard!" Byro barked, turning his gun toward Adam, but stepping away from the alarm. He kept his finger off the trigger, knowing he couldn't fire with his brother in the way, but still wanted to make his intent to fire clear.

"Adam!" Pidge was alarmed. She understood what he was doing, but this just seemed so drastic and sudden. Besides that, she really didn't want to see the kid hurt. He was the first Galra they met who wasn't all about the violence and following Zarkon's rule.

"We don't have time," Adam told her, never taking his eyes off Byro, "Now stand down!"

"Please brother," Miro pleaded. He seemed to have an idea of what Adam was doing and was going along with it. It was desperate, but if it would work, then he'd take it.

Byro threw down his weapon away from him, never taking his eyes off Adam or Miro. He snarled with ferocity, "If you hurt him, I'll have no choice but to claim your lives as retribution!"

"Fair enough. Pidge, go access the data," Adam instructed, gesturing with his head for Byro to move aside.

"Uhh, right," Pidge ran to the control terminal, sidestepping the large Galran man.

Pidge ran through the same process as she did before. Once the prompt for the encrypted password came up, she stepped back and looked at Adam.

"Password," Adam ordered sternly. Byro moved over in front of Pidge, reluctantly entering it in and then stepping back. Adam dropped Miro back onto the ground, urging him forward as the young man ran into his brother's arms, "Thank you. Now both of you, get out of here."

Miro released his brother, turning to Adam with sincere gratitude, "Thank you."

He grabbed his brother's hand, running by him to guide them both to the exit. Unfortunately he was met with a stern, unyielding grip that refused to budge. Miro looked over his shoulder, seeing his brother still focused solely on Adam.

"Not so fast. You see, what you and my brother don't realize… is I've already undergone the experiment I was sent here for," Byro used his free hand to pull off his helmet, revealing a large surgical scar across the left side of his head.

He threw off his gauntlets as well, almost like they were somehow restricting him. Both his arms also had large scars running across them, revealing the work that had been done on him. He was preparing himself for a fight, and that wasn't a good thing. Pidge saw that, and quickly sped up the download, working as fast as she could.

"Byro…"

Miro stepped away from him, horrified and devastated that he had failed to save his brother from the cruel experimentation.

Adam readied his weapon into a defensive stance, turning into a large katana for distance and maneuverability, "Don't be stupid. Go home with your brother and live your lives in peace. Think about him."

"I can't. I can't stand by and let everything we've built be destroyed by you. I'm building this world so he can be safe," he leaned forward and pushed a leg back, ready to charge forward at top speed.

That couldn't be what he was doing, right? He had no weapons in hand, and was going to run right into Adam's blade if he did so. What had the experiments done to him? Increased speed? Tactical strategy? There had to be an ace up his sleeve to set himself up for such a reckless attack.

Why was he even bothering with this anyway!? One secluded base worth of information shouldn't be worth his life, or putting his brother's at risk, no matter what he believed. It's not like this base held the key to single0handeldy defeating Zarkon. So why was he insisting on this fight so much when he could leave with his brother to keep him safe?

"Byro! No! Please, just come with me!" the young boy pleaded, tears running down his face. He knew what would happen next, and he couldn't bear it.

"Get out of here Miro!" His brother shouted.

"NO!"

Miro ran at his brother, pulling on his arm as hard as he could. Byro pushed him off, the young boy stumbling back and hitting his head on the edge of one of the computer terminals, knocking him out.

"Miro!" Pidge called out reflexively, the only one showing concern for the boy.

Both Adam and Byro were wholly focused on one another. Pidge finished grabbing the data and moved to go help the young boy, but all it did was spark Byro's ire. He saw it as an aggressive move, and charge right at her. Adam lept to her rescue, swiping his blade directly at the middle of Byro's body. The Galran man ran right into his sword, hitting it with a resounding clang.

Adam gasped, seeing Byro had stopped his blade with his bare hands. He didn't just grab it and hold it in place from striking him. He held his palms flat out, the blade pressed against his skin, but it didn't penetrate or draw blood. Byro smirked, gripping Adam's blade tight and pulling it out of his grip across the room.

He aimed a strike at Adam's face, throwing a fierce left cross. Whatever he was enhanced with made his hands hard as steel, strong enough to stop a blade bare-handed. Was it metal prosthetics covered in artificial skin, or was something grafted into his arms? Regardless of the answer, it made his hands incredibly dangerous. A single punch from him could be lethal. Adam expertly swerved out of the way of his attack, using the momentum to backflip out of the way and gain distance.

Pidge activated her bayard, striking Byro across the chest with her electro whip and sending him reeling back. It managed to lash a large gash in his armor, showing off even more scars on his body. What the hell had they done to him? Did he have his whole body augmented?

Adam used his brief moment of being stunned to strike at him, punching him across the face with his own metal fist. It seemed to do some damage, the Galra man grunting in pain. It gave him a narrow window to strike back though. As he stumbled, he kicked at Adam's chest, sending him flying back into the wall.

Adam coughed in pain, the wind knocked out of him. That was a much stronger kick than even a normal Galra soldier could do. If Adam wasn't wearing his armor, he'd probably have some broken ribs right now. He probably has a few cracked ones right now.

Pidge continued to fight, her small and quick stature letting her stay out of the reach of Byro's attacks. She kept whipping at him with her bayard, but half her attacks were blocked or dodged. One particular strike to his head was caught in his hands, the electricity sparking off his hand like a conductor. He pulled on the whip, sending Pidge flying toward him, ready to launch a killing blow. Pidge let go of her bayard and dropped to the ground, sliding underneath him from the momentum. He turned around, ready to stomp her to death.

Adam got up, running at him and putting him into a headlock. It wouldn't be very effective, but it would give Pidge enough time to get away. She scrambled to her feet, just in time for Byro to throw Adam over his head and onto the ground where she just was. He moved to make the same finishing strike, but Adam held up his metal arm, his shield forming a dome around his body to block it. As soon as Byro stomped on it, the edges of his shield dented into the floor around him.

Thank god his shield was working again. He was even starting to gain some modicum of control over it, at least in desperate situations like this. Adam pushed up as hard as he could, sending Byro tumbling onto his back. Without her bayard, Pidge moved over to protect the unconscious Miro, pulling him out of the way into a corner of the room. Adam dropped his shield, rolling over and grabbing his own discarded weapon and Pidge's fallen bayard.

Byro jumped up onto his feet with practiced ease. Adam activated Pidge's bayard, which surprisingly responded to him. Maybe it had to do with Allura wanting Adam to be the Green Paladin. He gripped it tight hiding his own weapon behind his back. Both him and Byro ran at each other, engaging in a dance of strikes and dodges. Byro's hands were deadly, so Adam took extra care to avoid every hit. Pidge's bayard had an electrical charge that Byro seemed to find troubling, so he also moved to avoid his hits as well rather than catch them like before.

Adam dropped to the ground, attempting to kick his enemy's feet out from under him and make him fall. However, Byro's stance was strong and unmoving, not giving an inch from Adam's sweep.

Shit! He should have expected that. Byro pulled back on his leg, kicking forward at Adam with all his might. Adam reflexively pulled up his shield, catching the kick, but the force sent his whole body flying back. He rolled to the ground, his back slamming against the main computer console.

Adam grunted, forcing himself to sit up. This guy was a freaking tank! Adam was getting his ass handed to him, being tossed around the room like a freaking ragdoll.

Byro pulled out a knife from his back holster, ready to finish this once and for all. He ran at Adam with insane speed, closing the distance between them in not even a few seconds. Adam tossed Pidge's bayard at his face, making him cover his face and shield his eyes from view. Distracted and not seeing what he was running at, he plunged right onto Adam's weapon.

He gasped in pain, looking down to see a large spear sticking out of his stomach, running him completely through. Adam was set on the ground, holding it firm against the floor to make sure it penetrated his body, aiming for the crack in his armor Pidge had made. He had used Byro's own speed against him, blinding him for a brief moment and then forming a spear that he had no choice but to run into. Whatever his body was enhanced with still couldn't protect him from such a blow that used his very own strength against him.

Byro gripped the staff with trembling hands, unable to believe he had just lost. Adam gripped his weapon tight, pushing forward and forcing Byro to move back. With a furious roar he kicked Byro back, pulling his weapon free from his chest. Byro laid there, trembling in shock as a pool of blood started to form underneath him. It was hard to say exactly when, but in only a few short moments, he was laying there lifeless. Dead.

"You… killed him," a young boy's voice called out quietly.

Adam whirled around, wide-eyed and in shock, seeing Miro sitting on his knees and staring at Adam with hopeless disdain. Pidge was sitting next to him, also surprised to see the young man awake. Tears were already pooling in his eyes, every painful emotion possible running through him.

"No, I…!" Adam couldn't think of what to say. He was the enemy. He had to do it. It was either kill or be killed. But… he had done it in front of his brother. In front of his only family.

No matter what he thought, nothing felt like proper justification for what had just happened. Adam could only stand there and watch as Miro climbed to his feet, looking at Adam as if he had just destroyed his entire world.

"He was a good man. He was just misguided. He believed in the wrong things," Miro took a shaky step forward, picking up his brother's discarded knife that had clattered to the floor near him.

"Miro, think about this," Adam pleaded. This couldn't be happening. It wasn't! It wasn't right.

"He was my brother… AND YOU TOOK HIM AWAY!"

Miro yelled, running right at him, his eyes screaming with ferocity and bloodlust. He had every intention of killing Adam. The passive young boy who just wanted to save his brother was now a bloodthirsty monster. Adam felt guilt and pain run through him like a bullet to his heart. He had taken this kid's brother away, just like the Galra had taken his own brother. He was so tormented by that thought, he couldn't even focus as the young boy attacked. He could only defend and strike back with practiced reflexes.

"Miro!" Pidge cried out to him. She didn't want this to happen. He was just a young boy who didn't even want to fight. She didn't want to see him fall from those ideals out of anger and vengeance. But she was too scared. Too troubled and unable to think. All she could do was watch Miro attack Adam with screaming rage and grief. She could see Adam didn't want to fight either, but he was fighting back instinctively. If he kept that up, then he would end up…. "Adam don't!"

Miro jumped up, slashing down with all his strength. Adam deflected the strike with the metal from his arm, sending the kid off balance. Without even thinking, Adam formed a sword with his weapon once again, slashing at the kid's torso like he would in any combat situation. He twisted on his heel, putting his full weight into the strike, as purple blood splattered across the floor.

Unlike most opponents, Miro had no combat training to stand up against Adam. A strike that most people would have been able to block, ended up being a killing blow. A deep gash was cut across his stomach, Miro screaming in pain as he fell to the floor. Adam looked back, horrified at what he had just done.

"B…. Byro," Miro grunted, rolling onto his stomach. He crawled towards his brother's dead body, using every last ounce of strength he had. A trail of blood formed under him as he crawled closer, tears running down his face as he reached out toward his brother, "Don't leave me… behind…. again. I'm coming…with you…"

Miro collapsed onto the floor, his hand mere inches from his brother's. He moved no closer, only laying in a pool of both his and his brother's blood, both of them dead.

"Miro…" Pidge whispered somberly. This was exactly what she didn't want. She wished she had never seen it. Something so horrible and tragic. Was this the cost of war Adam was talking about before? Was this the kind of pain she could expect to see over and over again?

She looked up at Adam, finding him dumbfounded and shocked. All he could do was stare at the two dead Galran brothers. This was a situation he never thought he would find himself in. It was too much for him to bear. He dropped his weapon to the ground, stepping away from their dead bodies as if it would somehow lessen the pain plaguing his mind.

"I killed them…" Adam whispered, never taking his eyes off them, "I killed his brother, and then I killed him. I destroyed their family. I… I'm just like the Galra."

All had had left in his life was his brother, and the Galra took that away from him. It had caused him so much pain and regret, that he wanted vengeance for all they had done. Now here he was, inflicting that same pain on tragedy on someone else. A young boy who just wanted to save his brother, and Adam killed them both. That suffering he was trying to avoid, to atone for… he had caused it himself. He was just like his enemies.

"It's not the same," Pidge whimpered out, knowing that he was just responding to the situation. Things got out of hand, but it wasn't necessarily his fault.

Adam turned to her, desperate and shouting, "It is the same! But I didn't have a choice!"

"Adam…" Pidge didn't know what to say. Adam was tearing himself up from the inside, and she didn't know how she could help.

Adam went silent for a moment, dropping to his knees and hanging his head down.

"I didn't think they could take anything else from me. But I was wrong," Adam's voice came out hollow, and numb, mulling over what this experience had done to him, "They tainted my humanity."

"That's not true! You tried to help him, and his brother!"

"And then they both tried to kill me," Adam said plainly, looking up at her with dead eyes. She gasped, stepping away from him. He looked so uncaring, his cheeks stained with tears. It was as if he had shut off his own emotions, and his voice reflected that unfeeling nature. He was shutting down in response to the trauma of what just happened, "You have to harden your heart, and cut down anyone that gets in your way. That's just the way it has to be now."

He grabbed his weapon and clipped it to his belt, getting back up on his feet. His movements were still sluggish, but otherwise he showed no remorse over what had just happened. Did he really feel nothing, or was he just trying to block all this out? Pidge couldn't tell. What was even worse, she couldn't figure out how to help him.

She merely shook her head, "But not all of them are evil. We can't just kill every Galra in our path."

Adam gestured toward the two dead bodies in the room, "We don't have the luxury to choose. Look where it got us. If you can't handle things like this, then I'll take care of it," he turned toward the exit and began to leave, "They've already turned me into a monster."

"But…" Pidge wanted to help. Wanted to keep a person she cared about, even admired, from falling into this well of despair. But she had no words. Had nothing to save him from those murky waters of melancholy. All she could do was watch helpless from the sidelines.

"We have the information. Let's call the others and leave."

This was how it had to be. That was what Adam tried to convince himself of. Just because he knew them, knew their stories, that shouldn't change things. They were still the enemy. Even when trying to help them, trying to spare them, they still attacked him with the intent to kill. They were all like this, causing pain and strife wherever they went. Their own familial ties shouldn't mean a thing to him. His own ties didn't mean anything to the Galra. Why should he have to feel guilt where they don't? That was just silly and limiting. All that mattered now was stopping them and getting the vengeance that his brother rightfully deserved.

Miro and his brother would be together in whatever afterlife they believed in. They weren't separated from each other by years of pain and torture like Adam and his brother were. They didn't deserve the retribution or vengeance they sought. But Adam did. That just had to be true. He had to believe that. He had to….

 **VVVVVVVV**

Aiden frowned at the monitor, watching as Adam left with the young green paladin in tow.

"Hmm. You're far more troubled than I realized Adam. Do you really bear the responsibility of what happened to me solely on your shoulders?" he clicked his tongue, turning the screen off now that their mission was technically over, "It makes me sad to know your life is so full of hardship. I hoped for better for you."

A Galra soldier entered the room, bowing at Aiden as he entered, "C… I mean, Sir Aiden."

Aiden turned around, putting on his usually cheerful persona, "Hey! Good for you! You remembered not to call me by my title!" he made a slight gesture with his finger to tell the guard to stand to his feet. The man did so hesitantly. The last person to call Aiden by his official title ended up dead. The story on how he was killed changed every time it was told, but he'd rather not take the chance, "What can I do for you?"

"Lord Zarkon wishes to know if your operation has bore any success."

Typical. For an essentially immortal ruler, Zarkon was so impatient. Still, he had enough patience to let Aiden run around and accomplish whatever he needed to. Despite how long it would take in Zarkon's eyes, Aiden would always come back successful in the end.

"Byro fought to the last, just like he promised. He provided us with adequate information on the fighting style of two key players. It's a shame the experiment conducted on his body was so unstable. He nearly managed to overwhelm them by himself. It would be a useful augment, if it didn't kill everyone it was used on within a couple days," Aiden mulled aloud. Of course, he didn't let Byro know that before the operation, but he needed to see how things would play out without any loose ends, "Letting his little brother sneak on the base also provided a surprising window into their personal limits and motivations as well."

Aiden didn't know how that situation itself would play out, but he couldn't argue against the results.

"So, they managed to steal the data?" the soldier inferred, getting to the root of the mission.

"So sorry. I have a tendency to ramble on. Yes. Let Zarkon know the trap is set. It's only a matter of time before they use the data to get them right where we want them," Aiden grinned. The soldier nodded, turning to leave to make his report. Aiden called out after him as he left, "Oh, and do tell Thace to hurry back. I miss him dearly."

"Yes sir," the soldier affirmed.

Aiden grinned. Thace was quite entertaining, especially when he was being so spitefully cold. Still, he could prove to be quite useful for what was to come. Aiden looked back over at the monitor, pulling up a still of his brother. He traced a finger along the screen, almost as if he could reach through it and cup his face just like he used to.

"The stage is set brother. Not much longer now. Then, I can save you."


	14. The Unquenchable Flame

**Chapter 13: The Unquenchable Flame**

All the paladins were gathered around Shiro's healing pod. Waiting intently for him to wake up. Coran said that he was about ready to come out of stasis, and everyone immediately dropped what they were doing to see him. It really showed how much everyone cared about Shiro and how they had come to rely on him. It would make him happy to see all their beaming faces once he woke up. It made Adam happy when he was

in his position, that's for sure… at the time anyway.

Keith looked over his shoulder to see Adam keeping his distance from the crowd. He immediately noticed something was wrong with him from the way him and Pidge were acting upon their return. The aura that Adam gave off told Keith that he should give him his space for now. Keith tried to get Pidge to open up about it, but even she was quiet about the whole situation. She acted like herself around Hunk and Lance though, so at least she wasn't too affected by whatever happened. Or maybe she just felt more comfortable in the familiar environment of her closest friends.

Regardless of what happened, they had managed to acquire the data they went in for. Pidge still hadn't analyzed it fully, choosing to wait for Shiro to make the call. Meanwhile, Keith either found Adam training, or sitting by Shiro's pod. These were the only things that helped calm Adam, he had to figure. So it was rather strange to see that he wasn't first in line to see Shiro wake up. Every time he found him, Keith regretted not going with them on that mission. If he had been there, maybe he could have prevented whatever was affecting him so much.

"Is he okay?" Hunk asked.

Keith looked back, seeing Hunk was staring at Shiro, who was making strained faces. It almost looked like he was in pain, or having a fierce nightmare.

"Sometimes, the healing process can cause involuntary brain wave reactions," Allura explained to them all.

Adam immediately livened up at that, "What!?"

"He looks like he's having a bad dream," Hunk responded, none of them noticing Adam rising to his feet and marching over to Allura.

"He just got blasted by a space witch and mauled by giant lizards. What dream could be worse than that?" Keith exclaimed.

"A lot of things," Adam nearly yelled, turning to Allura as he broke into the group, "Why didn't you say the healing pod could have these kinds of effects?"

"It's not something I felt needed explanation. At worst he'll have a nightmare, and then immediately wake up. It's never been an issue before," Allura responded. She had no idea why Adam was getting so worked up over this when he'd been nearly silent for the past couple days.

"Takashi has PTSD! There are things in his mind that he has blocked out because his conscious mind can't handle it. If this machine stimulates his brainwaves, he might remember something he isn't ready for!"

Adam whirled around to face Shiro, seeing the man trying to say something. Even from here, Adam could see his RPM was sky-high. How could he be so stupid!? Of course this machine stimulated brainwaves. His own crazy psychedelic dream should have been a big enough of a clue to tell him so!

What would this do to Shiro? Depending on what he saw, it could be as small as a bad memory to a full-on mental shutdown. Shiro's very mind could break and be frozen from whatever horrible revelation is floating beneath the surface of his waking mind.

Adam waited with bated breath, the others now much more concerned than they ever were before. The pod opened with a hiss, the glass seal dissipating and a light mist drifting out from the opening.

Just like Adam had, Shiro fell forward. Adam grabbed him, holding him tight in his arms.

"Takashi. Takashi, can you hear me?" Adam asked in a whispered panic, trying to gauge his level of response.

"Ulaz," Shiro barely whispered out.

He was still clearly out of it, and not fully awake. However, that word was crystal clear in Adam's ear. It was something Shiro must have remembered. Some person or thing, because it was a word Adam had never heard him say before.

 **VVVVVVVV**

After coming out of the pod, Shiro rested for a few more hours in the medical bay where Adam had carried him. When he woke up fully, he didn't seem to be suffering any of the side effects that they were all worried about. Instead, he had a grasp on a new memory that showed him how he had escaped from the Galra in the first place.

According to Shiro, a Galran soldier named Ulaz helped him escape. He let Shiro go right before they were going to conduct another experiment on him, even killing his fellow guards to do so. His only direction was that Shiro return to Earth to protect the Blue Lion from the Galra, and then meet him at the coordinates he implanted in his arm.

The story seemed crazy and surreal, but it did fill in some of the blanks on how Shiro came to be where he was when this whole mess started. Still, it was hard to confirm the legitimacy of these claims.

Shiro almost immediately went to Pidge, asking her to search the data in his arm for any trace of the coordinates the mysterious Ulaz may have left.

"I'm not finding anything in here. Are you sure this wasn't just a dream?" Pidge asked. Several cords were connected to Shiro's arm and running into her computer console as she pooled through the data.

"I'm positive. Someone helped me escape," Shiro nodded.

"And he was Galra?" Allura asked, sounding almost a little accusing.

Adam didn't blame her if she was in disbelief about the theory. She had suffered greatly because her people mistakenly put their trust in the Galra. A story like this wouldn't exactly inspire confidence from her. And considering what Adam just went through on his last mission, he wasn't too convinced either.

"Yes," Shiro said with a hint of bitterness towards the princess. He knew exactly what she was implying, and he didn't like the idea that she was immediately disregarding him because of it.

"You know you cannot trust them," she warned.

"Your father must have trusted them once. Zarkon was the original Black Paladin, wasn't he?" Shiro pointed out, finally bringing up the subject they all had avoided until now.

Allura looked away from him, a little ashamed, "That was a long time ago."

"Wait, what?" Lance squeaked out in confusion. It wasn't that surprising that Lance hadn't caught onto the connection. He wasn't exactly big on details like that.

Keith spoke up, clueing him in, "Didn't you see how he stole the Black Lion right out from Shiro? Or that he could do all that cool stuff with his bayard? Shiro's bayard? You know, the black one?"

Adam hadn't seen all of that since Keith's fight with Zarkon was taking place at the same time they were dealing with Sendak and the Witch. Still, after hearing about it from the others, the connection became quite obvious. Zarkon had been the Black Paladin, and as a result, he was able to take control of it even now.

"Why didn't you just tell us the truth about Zarkon?" Shiro asked, a little heated.

It was rare for Shiro to get upset at anyone not named Adam, but this was pertinent information that had been withheld from them all. It was something they needed to know, and keeping it secret had only served to put them in more danger.

"I wanted to protect you from the dark history of the paladins so that you would have a chance to bond with your lions on your own. You are the Black Paladin now, not Zarkon," Allura responded with conviction. Her reasoning made sense, but things hadn't played out for the best.

Shiro merely sighed, knowing that he couldn't exactly blame her for that, and realizing his own connection was in jeopardy, "Yeah, well, the Black Lion may have a different take on the matter."

"Wait a second," Pidge interrupted, having been working during the entire conversation, "I think I see it now. Some repeating numbers in all this Galra code. If I extract it and put them into the star map then they lead….. here! The Thaldycon system."

The holographic map pulled up, showing a ping in the middle of another galaxy. However, the coordinates didn't show any planet or star nearby. In fact, it looked like empty space. Another secret base maybe?

"Then, that's where we're headed," Shiro said determined, pulling the cords free from his arm.

Keith was the first to voice his skepticism, "Shiro, are you sure you can trust this? I mean, after all the Galra have done to you. They… they took your arm."

Strange. Adam immediately noticed the cues Keith was giving off from his body language. He wasn't being delicate with Shiro. In fact, he was acting… guilty. But why would he feel responsible for that? Taking on guilt for something the Galra did was completely unnecessary. But then again, who was Adam to make any judgments in that regard?

"It's worth the risk," Shiro assured the young man, "Someone helped me escape. If we can locate some allies in our fight against Zarkon, especially ones from his own side, we might just find a way to take him down."

Adam stepped forward, taking his turn to voice his opposition, "That's a lot to hope for. Letting you go could have just been some kind of ploy to recapture you again."

"I must agree with Adam. The Galra are not to be trusted. We could be walking into a trap," Allura definitely wasn't keeping her feelings to herself on this matter.

"How? He set me free so I could keep the Blue Lion out of their hands!" Shiro countered, getting upset over a plan he thought they would support him on.

"And are you sure you're even remembering that right!?" Adam softened his tone, seeing Shiro quickly become agitated. He needed to lay the facts out for him if he wanted to dissuade him, "Look I don't mean to press on you, but there is a chance they could have tampered with your memories. Your arm has a neural link to your brain, and they could have altered your perception of the events that played out. What if they planned to have you collect the Blue Lion and then return to them to be captured all over again?"

"That's crazy, why wouldn't they just take the Blue Lion as is?" Lance argued. It was his most sound argument yet, but still…

"They likely didn't know its exact location, otherwise they would have taken it before us. Maybe they thought letting a prisoner go, and giving him the opportunity to bond with the Lion was the fastest way to draw it out."

"And by making him think he escaped with help, he would pursue the coordinates given to him in search of that ally, falling right into their trap," Allura concluded for him.

"That's not…!" Shiro's eyes went wide with shock. He tried to find the words to protest, but only found himself stumbling for something to say, "That can't be…"

Shit. That's not what he wanted. While it was true that the Galra could have manipulated and toyed with Shiro in ways they hadn't even anticipated yet, Adam didn't mean to make him freak out. But how could he not? He was basically just told that his own mind could be a minefield that their enemy is using against them. Adam did have his suspicions about this kind of thing, but with Shiro's lack of memory, it hadn't become an issue yet. Now here he was, breaking the news to him in the worst way possible.

"If you think about it, we only found all the other lions because of Shiro. If he hadn't led us to Blue, we never would have found Allura, and she wouldn't have helped us," Hunk reasoned out.

He seemed to be taking the theory to an even more extreme level. One that was very visibly upsetting Shiro with every passing second.

Adam continued on, doing his best to soften the blow, "Even if someone really did help you, with no ulterior motives, it's been weeks since then. He might not even be at those coordinates anymore," he gestured towards the computer terminal, "But the data me and Pidge collected is relevant and recent. We should pursue the leads that gives us."

Keith placed a hand on his shoulder, seeing just how disturbed Shiro had become, "Maybe he's right Shiro. Maybe if we can find information about you, then we can figure out if your memories have been tampered with or not. And then we can look for the person that helped you."

Shiro seemed to calm down a bit at that, taking it on as the most advisable plan, "Alright."

Adam rested his head in his hand. That had gotten way out of hand way too fast. But he didn't want to go blindly chasing after Shiro's mysterious Galra friend. Not without more information. He was just relived Keith was able to calm him down with their brotherly bond.

"I'll start combing through the data. Shouldn't take too long," Pidge assured everyone.

 **VVVVVVVV**

After their meeting, Shiro went back to him room. He said he was going to rest until they had something. Adam knew that wasn't true. Coming out of a sleeping pod himself, he knew how hard it was to get any kind of rest for the first couple nights. The things they had said had really gotten to Shiro. Most likely, it was something the leader of Voltron had never even considered before.

Adam knocked on his door, the doors sliding open almost immediately.

"Takashi, can we talk?"

"Come in," Shiro waved him in, moving to sit on the bed.

Adam stayed standing, keeping his distance, as if he would break Shiro if he moved any closer, "Look, I'm sorry for the way I jumped down your throat back there. I was just…"

"No. You're right," Shiro's voice came out hollow and broken, his eyes dark and hidden from view, "The Galra did all sorts of things to me. Things I can't even remember. Maybe they did mess with my mind. And what if that's true? How can I say I'm doing the right thing? Maybe the choices and actions I'm taking are exactly what the Galra want from me. A puppet playing the part because he thinks he's a real boy."

Damn it. He should have known better. Shiro was in a very fragile state mentally, and Adam just had to go and throw this on top of him.

"Stop talking like that. It's not like you," Adam sat down next to him on the bed, feeling compelled to comfort him. Now wasn't the time to be gentle, or wallow in his own guilt over this. He had to be here for Shiro.

"That only helps prove my point. Maybe I'm not myself," Shiro remarked.

Adam fidgeted with the necklace around his neck, looking straight ahead as he spoke, "You are still you, I can promise you that. Regardless of what you do or do not remember, you have always been the confidant and caring man that I remember. Just because your memories can't be trusted, that doesn't mean you aren't in control of yourself. You're not their puppet. You're Takashi Shirogane, and you're not afraid of anything."

"But I am," Shiro said, his voice coming out shakier than Adam had ever heard it, "I am scared. I'm scared of getting you and the others killed. I'm scared that I might make the wrong choice all the time. How can I lead this team if I can't even trust my own memories? If I can't even trust where I came from?"

Shiro grabbed his shoulders, his face desperate and fearful, pleading for an answer. Adam was almost at a loss for words seeing him like this. But then it him. Like a wave, the words he needed came crashing into his mind.

Adam grabbed Shiro's wrists, pulling his arms off his shoulders, "Someone once told me, 'your past doesn't define you. It just gives you a starting point for who you're going to be'."

Adam recited those words from memory. From a time when he needed to hear them, so that he could overcome the weights of his own past.

"You really love quoting my own words back at me," Shiro sighed, the faintest hint of a smile showing in the corner of his mouth. Shiro looked up at him, the spark coming back to his eyes, "How do you remember all these things? Do you write them down and wait for an opportunity to fire them back at me as a form of elaborate payback?"

"That does sound like me doesn't it?" Adam quipped, managing to make both him and Shiro share a soft chuckle. Adam reached up, wiping an invisible tear from Shiro's eyes, speaking in a low, sentimental tone, "I remember everything you say."

Shiro leaned into his touch, his doubts about himself disappearing from his mind, "You really know how to get to me."

"It's always been my specialty," Adam said, pulling his hand away, "It's okay to be afraid. Everyone is. But your power has always been to overcome that fear, and use your amazing talents to come out on top. All the times we fought the Galra, you stood strong and beat them back. They don't have any power over you."

"I guess you're right. Not knowing who I am, it's always bothered me. But I should have realized I'm always going to be me, no matter what my memories are."

"Well if you need any further proof, I can feel you, right here," Adam placed his hand over his heart. It was probably the cheesiest thing he had said yet, but it was true nonetheless, "That mission I took with Pidge was… rough. It filled me with so much anger and hatred. A fire lit inside my heart, one demanding vengeance that I don't think I can quench. But being here with you right now, it quells that fire in me."

"Adam…" Shiro's voice was sympathetic, feeling pain for Adam that he didn't need to. Hearing that made him instantly want to soothe Adam's suffering, without any regard for his own. But not this time. It was Shiro's turn to feel cared for.

"You've always done that for me. So you don't have to worry about me, or yourself. I would tell you if I thought there was anything wrong with you. I always have before," Adam teased, keeping the seriousness of his sentimentality light, "We'll find out the truth about what they did to you. And no matter what that truth is, you'll realize you are who you were always meant to be."

"Thank you Adam," Shiro looked at him, deep in his eyes, in a way he hadn't seen in some time.

"Always," Adam responded a little breathlessly.

Oh no. If he let himself get pulled into that gaze, then there would be no coming back. Shiro's face looked wistful and longing, his soft brown eyes sparkling with moisture that had threatened to become tears at the start of this conversation. His lips were parted ever so slightly, looking sweet and inviting. How long had it been since Adam had properly tasted them?

Wait. Was he leaning forward? Shit. How could Adam not be drawn in by the sight before him? It had been so long since he felt Shiro's soft lips pressed against his own. To feel that soft caress turning into playful nipping, followed by the heated passion of exploring each other's mouths. Just thinking about it was enough to put Adam in a daze. He didn't even need a mirror to know that his own face looked just as desperate and longing as Shiro's did.

They shouldn't do this. They shouldn't. They needed to focus on the mission, or talk some more about the things between them. That's what should happen. So why aren't either of them stopping? Why are both of their faces moving closer? And closer? Their foreheads nearly pressed against one another… lips just about to…

"Hey guys, Pidge…. WHOA!"

Lance came bursting into Shiro's room, breaking Adam and Shiro from their lovestruck stupor and making them pull apart in surprise.

 _Goddamn it Lance!_ Adam found himself cursing out the young blue paladin in his mind. He must have seen him enter Shiro's room and decided to come here to inform them about Pidge's findings.

"We were just talking!" Shiro quickly said, his face flushing an adorable shade of pink. He always looked like a puppy dog when he made a face like that. So cute and innocent, just waiting to be corrupted by Adam's sinful desires…. _Damn it, Lance. Of all the fucking times_.

"You were just talking with your mouths?" Lance wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, feeling very smug about what he had just caught them almost doing.

"That's usually how talking works," Adam remarked sarcastically.

"Oh, right. Damn it," Lance cursed, upset that he missed his one opportunity to be the witty one.

"What do you need Lance?" Adam asked, doing his best to keep composure, and giving Shiro the chance to regain his bearings.

"Oh right. Pidge found information on Shiro!"

 **VVVVVVVV**

"What have you got?" Shiro asked, walking up to the young girl, Lance and Adam following closely behind.

"This data has records on some of your fights in the Gladiator ring, specifically as it pertains to the experiments run on you."

"Examples?" Adam asked, doing his best to act normal around her. Things were still awkward between them after their mission. Adam hadn't so much as spoken to her about it.

Pidge pulled up the information, too engrossed in her process to be bothered. Adam would have to talk to her later now that he'd regained his sense of self. She was very clearly worried about him, and was deeply upset by what happened. He couldn't blame her. Despite all that she'd gone through, she was still quite young. No one her age should have to suffer all things she'd seen. That apology would have to wait though, as they all stood by watching her work.

"Right here. 'Subject C1 vs C2. Results: Subject C2 lost right arm in battle. Moved to testing facility for enhancement. Subject C1, no injuries'," she read off the information.

"But why move Shiro for enhancement? Wouldn't they kill most losers?" Keith asked.

"According to this, he'd already racked up a very impressive record of victories. I think winners like him were moved into a special category. One where the top fighters competed against each other.

"Champions," Shiro inferred.

Pidge nodded, "Once he lost, they must've decided to augment him to see how he would fair in future fights."

"So they were grooming him?" Keith asked.

That was the logical conclusion. Considering how they improved Shiro's condition, they probably were hoping to make him a soldier under their ranks. Haggar had said something to that effect when they faced off against her as well. But could they really expect Shiro to help them after all they had done to him? Was there another process that would have turned Shiro into a loyal soldier?

Adam shook that thought off. That wasn't a good road to go down right now. Especially after just calming Shiro down from his own mental identity crisis. Bringing up the idea that there was a mind warping/control process would only serve to complicate matters, and make the Black Paladin doubt himself all over again.

"Maybe. But obviously he escaped before that happened," Pidge responded to Keith, not fully understanding the process either.

"I'm curious about this other champion," Lance said aloud, wondering who else was on Shiro's level of fighting caliber.

Pidge sighed, "There's no data on him at all except for a subject designation, C1."

"Champion 1? Really?" Adam scoffed. Despite their advancements, the Galra were surprisingly unoriginal.

"It's Sendak," Shiro said, his voice flat and bitter.

"Are you sure?" Keith asked immediately, despite sensing the certainty and conviction in his voice.

Shiro nodded, "When we fought on Zarkon's central command, he mentioned our previous battle. He told me how he took my arm."

"That's why he looked so familiar to you," Adam realized, thinking back to the conversation they had when they held Sendak prisoner.

So much had happened since then, that he didn't even bother to think about what that battle on Central might have meant to Shiro. The Witch who tortured and experimented on him, and the soldier who took his arm, both in the same place. Literally facing the demons of his past must have been tormenting for him. Things were just getting more and more complex, and they all revolved around Shiro!

Adam would have to check on Shiro's mental state later. No matter how strong he was, he was still vulnerable given his PTSD. And more and more revelations were piling on by the second, threatening to break that thin wall between sanity and instability.

Pidge pulled up a facility map, "Well, this data lists a site where Shiro's surgery was conducted. If they did anything else to him, they'll have records there. We might even be able to free some prisoners and gain some allies against the Galra."

"Hell yeah! Two birds, one stone!" Lance cheered.

"Sounds like we have our next destination," Shiro agreed.

Everyone parted ways to make their preparations while Allura readied a portal for them to jump through. This was it. They would finally be able to figure out what happened to Shiro. And maybe with that knowledge, Adam could help him, and give him some peace of mind.

 **VVVVVVVV**

"There it is," Shiro announced, everyone gathering near him to see the Galra base on the holographic monitor.

"This is going to be a little different than our last mission. This base is much larger," Adam said aloud, his voice a little stern. It was hard not to recall the emotions from his last run in a Galra facility.

"Are you going to be okay?" Shiro asked, lightly grasping his arm.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Adam nodded. He wasn't the one Shiro should be worrying about right now. Besides, he felt way more at ease with him by his side.

"So what's the plan?" Keith asked, pushing Shiro into his usual leadership role.

"Adam's right. We won't be able to infiltrate a base of this size. It's not a small facility, and it's not a large cruiser ship. We won't be able to save the prisoners and gain information without setting off alarms."

"So that means…" Hunk whimpered out, knowing exactly what that meant.

"We're gonna hit them hard and fast, on two fronts," Shiro finished.

"Is that wise?" Allura inquired. She didn't doubt their capabilities, but still would have preferred a cautious approach. A full-on attack on a Galra base left a bad taste in her mouth considering the events at central command.

"This is an isolated base. If we can't even take them down, then we don't deserve to be a part of Voltron," Shiro said, resolute.

"So melodramatic," Adam whispered under his breath before speaking up for everyone to hear, "I'll be part of the ground team, obviously."

Shiro nodded, "Keith you go with him to save the prisoners. The rest of us will attack from the outside. Once we take control of the base, Pidge will go in to meet you and secure the data."

To be honest, Adam felt a little bit of relief at hearing the plan. Shiro didn't sound like he had any intention of going into the base, which would easily be a trigger for him. Maybe Shiro realized that himself and fabricated this plan with his own limitations in mind. If that was true, Adam was glad he was taking his own mental health into consideration. Not only that, but Adam would have Keith in there with him to keep him under control, and to act as a buffer between him and Pidge. Hopefully this would end up better than last time.

"Don't forget to keep track of our location. I don't feel like getting blown up by my own team," Adam told the others.

"How come me and Hunk are always left in our lions!? Lance whined, wondering why he always had to be the distraction instead of going on cool infiltration missions.

"So you want to go inside the deadly enemy base?" Keith quirked an eyebrow at him.

"For the record, I'm totally cool with staying safe in my lion," Hunk said sheepishly.

"You're a good pilot Lance. We need you out there," Shiro said with conviction.

Before he even responded, Adam immediately knew that was an obvious ego boost. One that was definitely going to work.

"Well if I'm being recognized for my talents, how could I say no?" Lance said rather smugly, flexing an arm in a rather showy display. He was aiming at Allura, but she was barely paying attention.

"You are so easy," Keith rolled his eyes.

"Huh?"

"Let's move!" Shiro yelled, initiating the start of their mission.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Everything went off without a hitch. Allura piloted the castle and provided covering fire as Shiro lead the paladins into a full-on assault of the base. The attack drew out all of the Galra's fighter jets. It gave Keith the opportunity to break away from the group and fly into an open hangar bay. Thanks to his expert piloting skills, he slipped in right before the doors closed behind them.

Adam and Keith exited the lion, weapons at the ready. Adam pulled up the wire map of the base on the small projector on his arm.

"Which way now?" Keith asked.

"Should be down here," Adam said, leading them down the hall.

As they ran down the winding hallways, Keith pointed his gun down every turn and corner, ready to fight off the inevitable guards on high alert. However, they never came across any. Even if all their forces were diverted towards the attack outside, they should still have some ground soldiers or drones ready to fight. It made Keith feel uneasy, almost like this was done by design.

"How have we not run into any guards yet?" Keith panted, keeping his bayard in hand, just waiting for a surprise attack.

"Takashi sure knows how to call attention to himself," Adam said offhandedly, more focused on guiding them through the base.

Keith wasn't satisfied with that explanation however, "It's not that. This just feels too easy. Something's wrong."

He couldn't shake this feeling. It was just like when he felt drawn to Blue, or when he was able to find the Red Lion. Something inside of him was screaming at him, telling him this wasn't right. Was this his warrior's intuition?

Adam and Keith stopped in front of a large service elevator, Adam pressing the call button as he looked at the wire map projecting from his arm, "Whatever it is, we can handle it. Come on, the prisoner quarters are down this elevator."

"Shiro, we're approaching the target location," Keith called over his comms, getting no response, "Shiro? Are you there?"

"Our signal's probably blocked from being so close to the holding cells. They wouldn't want any of their prisoners to somehow get a message out," Adam had to figure.

"Then let's make this fast," Keith nodded. He trusted Adam, but this wasn't helping inspire confidence in their current situation. He couldn't call Shiro for assistance if something went wrong now.

The elevator doors opened, and what happened next was so fast that neither of them could react in time. A rush of fire and wind came roaring towards them from inside the elevator, knocking them off of their feet as an explosion engulfed the elevator and made it fall. The sheer force that threw them across the room was merely the tail end of the explosion, as the blast actually originated from several floors down where the prisoner quarters were.

Adam gasped for air, the wind knocked out of him from being thrown across the room and hitting the wall, "Fuck… Keith, you okay?"

"I'm alright," Keith coughed. He got up on his hands and knees, looking at the demolished elevator with horror, "The prisoners…."

How could this happen? Even if Shiro or one of the others accidentally blasted the ship, it shouldn't have created a chain reaction like that. Not only that, but the blast was initiated at the exact moment they opened the elevator, giving the pressure somewhere to go and hit them. That kind of thing would have to be planned or timed perfectly. And then there were the prisoners where the blast was centered…

"A simple price to pay, so I may have the chance to finally kill you," a deep menacing voice called out to them.

Adam and Keith looked over across the hall, seeing the cause of their predicament marching towards them. The monster that was constantly plaguing them. Sendak.

"No. No fucking way!" Adam snarled.

"You son of a bitch. You killed all those people!" Keith yelled, rising to his feet.

"Most of them were failed experiments. No one will miss them," Sendak lifted both his arms, showing that they were both robotic prosthetics now, "You have forced me to fail twice now, and this was my penance. But now, I can kill you with this new power."

This just further proved what they thought about Sendak. If he wasn't strong enough, then they would experiment on him and make him stronger, so that he could finish any mission. He was one of their champions, and now he was even stronger than before.

Adam rose to his feet, grabbing his weapon and forming his halberd, the fire in his heart burning hotter than it ever had before. This bastard was going to pay for everything he'd ever done, "Fine. But this is the last goddamn time!"

 **VVVVVVVV**

"Whoa! What the hell was that!?" Lance exclaimed, seeing a large blast erupt from the side of the floating base.

"I didn't do that. Did any of you guys do that?" Hunk clamored, smashing into a Galra ship and destroying it.

"Coran, where's that blast centered?" Shiro demanded, his anxiety spiking. _Please don't let it be near where I think it is._

"According to number 5's data, it's right over the prisoner quarters," Coran informed him.

Oh no. Shiro's heart was immediately squeezed in a vice, knowing that the two people he cared about most were in direct danger, "Allura!"

"I've got everyone covered. Go!" Allura assured him, knowing exactly what he was asking before he even said it.

He blasted away two Galra ships near him, smashing through a third as he took off for the base.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Keith fired a barrage of bullets at Sendak, thinking it would be smarter to keep a distance this time. Sendak used his new arm to block the shots, giant metal plates extending out of both sides of his arm to form a shield.

Adam charged at him, leaping up and thrusting his weapon forward at his exposed side. To his surprise, Sendak grabbed his halberd mid-thrust with his other arm, spinning around and tossing Adam across the room. Keith stopped firing, seeing Adam's body come hurdling towards him. He didn't get a chance to move before the two crashed into each other and onto the ground.

"Fuck!" Adam shouted in frustration, climbing off of Keith.

"He's more of a problem now with two of those arms."

"Yeah, except I'm at full strength this time. And I have a few tricks of my own," Adam stood tall, turning his halberd into a swift katana, "Victory or death, that the Galran way, right?"

"Yes, now come. Face me like a true warrior, and kill me if you are able," Sendak taunted.

"So be it," Adam growled, running right towards him in a frontal assault.

"Adam wait!" Keith called out for him, turning his bayard back into its sword form. If they couldn't fight from a distance, he was going to go charging in as well.

He was just about to follow after Adam, when he saw Adam was holding up a hand behind his back as he ran, a silent gesture telling Keith to stay back. But why? They both knew he wouldn't be able to take on this monster on his own. They could barely hold him off last time with just one robotic arm. And despite his obvious anger and disgust, Adam still appeared to be in a clear headspace. What was he planning?

Adam attacked with a flurry of quick cuts and slashes, Sendak blocking all of them by holding up his arms. He went in for a trust to the gut, but had his sword knocked away as he did so. Sendak brought his clawed hands swinging down, trying to pummel Adam into the ground, but instead dove between his legs, rolling to his feet.

Sendak turned around, now on the offensive, swiping at him and smashing with extreme prejudice. Adam was nimble enough to dodge every attack, his reflexes agile and quick. Sendak gave one large swing at his feet, which Adam backflipped out of the way of.

What was Adam doing? It was like he wasn't even trying to put up a good fight. He could have easily dove backwards to reclaim his weapon, but instead he rolled out of the way of it. Not only that, he shouldn't have gotten his weapon away in the first place. His attacks were so weak and obvious. And now he was just dodging for his life when he could use a barrier from his arm to protect himself.

Keith caught a glimpse of Adam's face, looking over at him with a nod. Wait. This had to be part of Adam's plan. He just needed to think of how this would benefit them. How did all these pieces fit together? Keith's mind began racing, thinking of each of Adam's actions.

Adam dived under Sendak's legs instead of grabbing his weapon, making him turn his back to Keith. And now, Adam was constantly moving and dodging without throwing a single attack. It was clearly making Sendak frustrated, goading him into pursuing the purple paladin with ferocious vigor. He was obviously drawing his attention away from Keith, but it's not like Keith could do any real damage if he went for the surprise attack. Unless…..

That's it! That's why Adam wasn't using his barrier. He just needed to wait for the right opportunity. No doubt Adam would give a signal.

Sendak brought both his claws up, smashing the ground and causing the floor to crack and dent in. Adam flipped back, his foot catching in the damaged ground as he landed and making him fall flat on his back.

Sendak stepped on Adam's metal arm with his foot, keeping it pinned to the ground, and used his left claw to stab into the ground and hold Adam's other arm in place. He looked down at him, holding his free claw at Adam's throat, reveling in his victory.

"I expected better given your relation. To think you'd die with such a pitiful showing," he sneered.

"This is what you wanted right? Too bad you're not going to get it. Punk!" Adam shouted, putting extra emphasis on the last word.

Keith leapt up behind Sendak, slashing down as hard as he could at his shoulder, completely cutting off the arm that was holding Adam's to the ground.

What sounded like a mere taunt to Sendak, was in fact the signal Keith had been waiting for. Because of their shared history, Adam had called Keith a punk on many occasions. It was actually kinda funny how that had become the call sign to help them win this fight.

Sendak howled out in pain, stepping back in surprise, fighting off Keith. Adam pried his hand free from Sendak's dismembered claw, scrambling to his feet and grabbing his weapon. Weakened and confused by the turn of events, Keith was managing to hold the large Galran man off. This gave Adam the time to come running up behind him and cut off his other arm.

Sendak howled once again, falling to his knees. Once again, he'd failed.

"That was for my arm you son of a bitch. And for Takashi's too," Adam spat at him, coming around to stand by Keith and face him head on. Both him and Keith kept their swords pointed at him to make sure he didn't try anything else. Even in this state, he still had the potential to be a threat.

"Hahaha," Sendak began laughing, despite his obvious loss and the pain he should be feeling, "So the Champion still doesn't remember anything?"

"What are you talking about?" Adam snarled, putting his blade to his throat.

Sendak just seemed to relish it, staring up at him with that sadistically evil grin, "I'm not the one who cut off his arm. He tore off mine."

No. That couldn't be right. That contradicted everything they knew. Besides, Shiro could never be that brutal. He didn't have that kind of nature. Even so, he was fighting for his life back then. That could push anyone to the breaking point. But if Sendak wasn't the one who bested Shiro, then how did he lose his arm?

"Why should I believe you?" Adam pressed his blade even harder against him.

"I don't care if you do or not. Just finish it," Sendak goaded.

Keith placed a hand on Adam's sword arm, keeping him still, "We should take him prisoner again. Now that he can't fight back, we could get more information out of him."

That wasn't a bad plan. This time they could get way more information out of him. Last time it helped them find that secret transport base. If they held him for longer, who knows what pertinent information they could find out about Zarkon and his emperor.

"You'd disgrace me again?" Sendak asked, disgusted that they wouldn't grant him an honorable death.

"We could give two shits about your so-called honor," Adam told him. He turned to Keith, nodding in approval of his plan. Despite his growing aggression toward the monsters that destroyed his family, he couldn't let his personal feelings get in the way. He just needed to remember what was important to him and stay in control, "Let's get in touch with the others."

"Hahaha," Sendak laughed again.

"What's so funny?" Adam felt the need to ask, wondering why he found this so-called disgrace laughable. Shouldn't he be cursing them for such a thing? Adam made it clear he didn't care about his Galra honor.

Sendak looked up at him with sinister glee, "Your brother said the exact same thing to me once," Adam felt a cold rush run down his spine, those words hitting him like a truck as Sendak kept on, "I knew you looked familiar, but I finally realized it when you defeated me the second time. You look just like he used to."

Adam gritted his teeth, his hands shaking with anger and anguish. An uncontrollable rush of emotions ran through him, overwhelming him so much that he couldn't even think. This monster knew his brother? Was he the one who…?

"Adam…" Keith said with concern, seeing the purple paladin unravel right before his eyes.

"He was a true warrior. Defeating him in the ring was my most hard-fought victory ever," Sendak sneered.

Adam stared down at Sendak, the fire in his heart burning brighter and engulfing his very soul. That flame of vengeance was screaming for retribution, and Adam aimed to deliver.

"AGGGGHHHH!" Adam screamed, raising his sword and slashing down at Sendak's head.

"Adam!" Keith caught his arm, keeping Adam from killing the large Galran soldier. He could see the pain in Adam's eyes, the tears running down his face, and the heartbreak behind his ferocious expression. He could see how much this was hurting him, and he knew he needed to stop him, "Don't do this!"

"It was him! I have to! I have to kill him!" Adam insisted, continuing to try and bring his sword down despite Keith's grip. The boy was stronger than Adam gave him credit for, because he was managing to hold Adam still. But that didn't matter. This monster basically admitted that he killed his brother, and he was laughing about it! He needed to kill him!

Keith shook his head, his heart breaking for him, "I understand, but this won't help your brother! It won't help you! This isn't vengeance, this is just hatred!" Keith pleaded, trying to appeal to his sense of logic, "If we spare him then we can use him to our advantage, and make sure he pays for his crimes later. Please. I won't let you do this to yourself."

Adam looked over at Keith, seeing the genuine concern and fear in his eyes. He could see how much the young man really cared for him in this moment. It pulled at Adam's hear a little, but it wasn't enough to quell the fire burning inside.

"I'm not Takashi, Keith. You can't save me," Adam's words were bitter and harsh. They were enough to stun Keith into a state of shock, seeing just how far gone he was now. Adam used that moment to push Keith off him, sending him tumbling to the ground. With one last furious roar, Adam brought his sword swinging down, completely severing Sendak's head, and bringing him the death he so desperately craved, "Enjoy hell you piece of shit."

Keith just lay back on his hands, watching in horror as Sendak's body slumped to the ground, his head rolling a small distance away from it. He looked up at Adam, splatters of purple blood staining his blade and armor.

"Why…. Why did you do that? He was defenseless," Keith brought himself to ask. He knew why, but also needed to know why Adam couldn't have just listened to him. Why couldn't he have found vengeance and peace in another course of action?

Adam looked down at him with a dead-eyed expression, "Is that supposed to make me hesitate? Am I supposed to feel pity for him after everything he did?"

"No, but…. we could have used him. The things he knew could have saved other people's lives," Keith rose to his feet, his own frustrations and grief boiling up inside him, "Who does killing him save now!?"

"The soul of my murdered brother."

Adam's words were so cutting, but lifeless. He sounded like a man who had lost everything and could now only seek a bloody retribution. He'd hardened his heart, making it so he couldn't feel the emotional weight of what he had done. But what was worse, was that he truly sounded like he believed everything he was saying. In this state, was there any turning back for him?

Keith was at a loss for words, only managing to gasp in response. How could he have failed Adam so miserably? If he had been stronger, maybe he could have done something. He could have pushed Adam down a more peaceful path towards vengeance. But he'd let him down, and Shiro as well, who trusted him to have Adam's back. What could he ever possibly say to make this better?

"Adam! Keith!" Shiro's voice came from down the hall as he ran towards them.

"Shiro!" Keith yelled with surprised relief. He had arrived just in time, as if to answer Keith's prayers. If there was anyone who could bring Adam back from the brink, it was Shiro.

Shiro came to quick halt, seeing Sendak's headless body on the ground between them, "What the…! Is that…?"

"Sendak. He was waiting for us," Adam responded immediately, his voice stern and serious, "What are you doing here?"

Shiro was taken aback by how coarsely Adam was speaking, but answered his question regardless, "We saw the explosion from outside, and we couldn't reach your comms. I came to make sure you were both alright."

"We're fine Takashi. But we lost the prisoners. He knew we were coming and killed them all," Adam gestured to the destroyed elevator, indicating the source of the mysterious explosion.

"What!? But how did he even know we were going to be here?" Shiro asked alarmed, his mind racing with possible explanations and what that meant for them.

"I don't know, but our status here is compromised. Have Pidge grab this facility's data and then let's get out of here," Adam instructed.

"If they knew we were coming, then we should just leave!" Keith interrupted. No matter what was going on with them right now, they couldn't risk everyone's safety.

Adam merely shook his head, "If Sendak was the only one waiting for us, then they don't know exactly where we are. Most likely, they anticipated our arrival at several locations. That gives us some time."

"But how would they know that much?" Shiro pressed on.

"We'll figure that out later," Adam dismissed him, turning away from him without a word and making his way back toward the hangar bay.

"Adam, are you…" Shiro started to call after him.

"I'm fine Takashi. Just get moving. You shouldn't be on this ship anyway. It's not good for your mental state," was all Adam said in response. And with that, he continued on alone, leaving the two paladins behind.

Keith looked up at Shiro sympathetically, "Shiro…."

"Go with him. Get back to the Red Lion. We can talk about Adam later," Shiro assured him. He knew he wanted to talk to him about Adam and explain what happened, but that would have to wait. They needed to get out of here first. Whatever Keith had to say wouldn't change their situation now. They just needed to deal with it one step at a time.

Even so, Shiro could feel the regret coming from Keith. He had felt it many times before coming from Adam, and Shiro had to wonder just how far gone was Adam now. The cold, empty way he was talking, and the remorse Keith was trying to convey, how bad had things gotten? And had that fire of vengeance Adam spoke of earlier, was it burning out of control now? If so, could Shiro even quell that fire like ?

He would just have to see…

 **VVVVVVVV**

Aiden watched on his monitor as the paladins ran off in separate directions, leaving Sendak's lifeless body on the ground, "Well done Sendak. You accomplished everything I wanted from you and more. You should be proud of your death."

His plan had worked out quite well for the most part. Voltron had picked the exact base he had expected them too. Knowing the Champion was with him and the answers they would hope to gain, it was pretty easy to guess. All he had to do was come up with an obstacle for them, and Sendak was so ready for another chance to prove himself. And the events couldn't have played out better. Adam had been pushed to his breaking point, and the bastard who fucked with his little brother was finally dead.

Sure, Aiden could have killed him if had really wanted to, but that wouldn't have looked too good on him. He could have gotten away with it for sure, but the search for the traitor would have complicated matters. Plus, he didn't want to reveal his own familial ties just yet. There was more work he needed to do on that front. Besides, he so hated to just pointlessly waste resources. Why kill Sendak himself when he could send him out to accomplish something for him, which would in turn get him killed?

There was the small chance Adam could have been killed, but Sendak had been bested twice already, and Aiden had faith in Adam. Regardless, he had made contingency plans to make sure Sendak never came back alive no matter what the outcome. He was meticulous like that. Or maybe it was petty vengeance from the one time Sendak had defeated him. But that was a such long time ago, and Aiden was much stronger now. But cutting off his baby brother's arm? That deserved immediate action and a swift death. Still, he was a well regarded Galra soldier, and deserved an honorable death in the process. And Aiden was all too happy to set up the circumstances.

He disconnected the small monitoring device that he had plugged into the screen, which had allowed him to tap into the remote base's security system. Once he was about to leave, Thace came walking into the small security office, looking exasperated upon seeing Aiden.

"Still encroaching on my space, are you?" he asked pointedly.

"Oh my dear Thace, I'm going to miss you," Aiden responded, feigning heartbreak. Although, he had to admit he was going to miss a little bit. He was so much fun to tease..

"Finally leaving me alone?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow, skeptical at his response.

Aiden merely grinned at him, revealing the cause of this sudden change, "Haven't you heard? Haggar has gathered her druids. They will be helping Zarkon track down the Black Lion now."

"Is that even possible?" Thace asked, his body language becoming ever so slightly more tense.

Aiden laughed to himself. Thace was so obvious, "It seems our emperor was able to reconnect with the Black Lion during the paladin's attack on central. With that, they should be able to track them down anywhere in the future."

"That is good news," Thace said simply, hiding behind his dedicated soldier persona. In reality of course, he was in a panic. He feared for the fate of Voltron and its paladins. If they were captured by Zarkon, then any opposition to the throne would be crushed.

"And yet you seem oddly perturbed by it," Aiden remarked, stepping closer to him.

"I thought that would be you. Aren't you bothered that your plans are no longer required?" Thace quickly deflected. He needed to stay focused on his position, and hope for the best when it came to the paladins of Voltron.

"Not at all. I've already accomplished what I wanted to. Besides, this new plan will still take quite a bit of time and energy to enact," Aiden answered, stepping around Thace to stand behind him, resting a hand on his shoulder.

What was that all about? Aiden had been so meticulous and driven before about tracking Voltron, but now he was just going to give up? And what exactly had he accomplished? As far as Thace knew, he had only managed to push one or two of the paladins to their limits, completely ignoring the opportunity to capture them. And yet, he didn't seem at all bothered that Zarkon and his witch were close to tracking them down. In fact, he seemed ecstatic about it.

"Time to do what?" Thace asked, reading into the obvious implication of his statement. Aiden talked like that delay in Zarkon and Haggar's plan was essential for something. But what?

"Oh Thace, you shouldn't be so nosey," Aiden leaned forward, whispering in his ear, "It could get you killed one day."

Thace kept calm, despite the cold rush of dread that ran down his spine, "That a threat?"

Aiden merely smirked, dropping his hand from his shoulder and walking away to leave, "Take care Thace. I hope to see you again someday."

Thace turned and looked on as the man left. For his sake, he really hoped he wouldn't see him again.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Shiro sat on his bed, thinking about the crazy whirlwind of a day they had all had. After parting ways with Keith and Adam, the rest of the mission went off relatively smoothly. Pidge stole the information they needed, and then they had taken off as quickly as possible. Now they were drifting through open space, taking the time to rest and recuperate after a long, hard fought battle.

It was the middle of the night, or rather it was a nighttime designated by the castle's clock and automatic lighting features. And as expected, Shiro found himself restless and unable to sleep. Not just because of his time in the healing pod, but also because of the harsh personality change he had seen in Adam. He wanted to comfort him, but situations like this were really when Adam needed his space. But he couldn't help but be plagued by the guilt of not rushing to his side, especially after the way Adam talked Shiro down earlier. Maybe he should just go and check on him and see if he's awake.

A soft knock on his bedroom door pulled him from his thoughts. Shiro quickly sat up, walking over to the door and opening it. On the other side stood Adam, dressed in a purple tank top and sweatpants, mirroring the black tank and sweats that Shiro was wearing.

"Takashi," Adam said rather plainly, "Surprised to see me?"

That was an understatement, considering Adam was still acting just as cold as before, "A little. I thought you would want your space tonight."

Adam brushed by him to stand in his room, not really taking place to sit or lean against anything. He looked intent on talking.

"I'm assuming you talked to Keith about me."

"I did. Pidge too," Shiro nodded.

After returning to base, Adam immediately broke off from the group to be alone. Worried, Keith was the first to go up to Shiro and tell him what happened. After a lengthy conversation, Shiro went to talk to Pidge as well, having heard about their mission from Keith. Both of them spoke of the hardships Adam endured, and the painful actions he was taking.

"I won't apologize for what I did," Adam said firmly.

"You don't have to," Shiro insisted, wanting to be as gentle and caring as he could be for him. He took a step forward, wanting to hold the man in a comforting embrace, "It must have been hard for you."

"Stop that. You don't know me anymore," Adam flinched away from him, almost like he was afraid of him.

But Shiro knew. He knew that no matter what declarations Adam had made to himself or the others, he was at war with himself internally. And Adam knew that Shiro was the only one that could get through to him in this state, which was why he was keeping his distance. Maybe that's why he came here. Adam probably wanted to hold onto this dedication towards violence and revenge, and he knew convincing Shiro of it was the only way to hold onto that resolve.

Shiro shook his head, refusing to back down, "I know you better than anyone else here, and your poker face is still wanting. I can tell that you're hurting, so please just talk to me."

"Why should I? So you can help me? So you can show me I was wrong, and that what I'm feeling isn't a bad thing because of all I've been through? Well who are you to be that fucking considerate!?" Adam shouted, countering all the thoughts and notions he was expecting to hear. He turned his back on Shiro, probably just as figuratively as literal.

"Adam I…" Shiro reached out to him, refusing to let him wallow in these thoughts.

The second Shiro's hand grasped his shoulder, Adam turned on his feet, punching Shiro across the face with his human hand. The sudden force and surprised Shiro, making him fall back on the floor. He held a hand up against his cheek, completely unsure of how to feel other than shock. It wasn't so much that the punch hurt, as much as Adam actually going as far as to hit him. But as he looked up at his face, he could see why.

Adam stared down at him with ferocity, looking like he wanted to cry out of sheer anger, "Why can't you just stop!? All I do is hurt you! Can't you see that!?" Adam took a deep breath, feeling like he got his point across. He walked towards the door, content to leave things like this. This would put an end to things, "Just leave me be. This is what I have to do now. Understand?"

"No I don't understand!" Shiro shouted, making Adam stop dead in his tracks, a shiver running down his spine. Shiro stood tall, his own frustrations rising to the surface. He wasn't just going to let him push him away like this. He knew what it felt like to be on that side of things, "All this anger and violence, all it's doing is hurting you. This path you're going down is filled with nothing but hatred, and I won't let it take you!"

Adam turned around, trying his best to match his anger, his resolve wavering, "I don't have a choice! The Galra destroyed my family! They took everything from me! Even you," Adam's voice turned pathetic when he said that, the wave of emotions becoming too much for him to bear. He wanted to cry and shout, but all he could do was lay his intentions bare for the world to see, "I owe them for every horrible thing they wrought down on me, and I won't be satisfied until Zarkon and his witch are dead."

Shiro could see it now. That fire of vengeance he had spoken of before. It was fierce and sad, threatening to take Adam's very soul. Anything to stoke the flames that helped it continue to burn.

"Is that really your only goal? To bring pain to the universe?" Shiro asked, wanting to undermine his very reason for doing this.

"What about my brother's pain!?" Adam screamed, "He was the only thing I had left in this world, and he was killed without ever knowing why! How it must have hurt…"

"Adam…"

The thought of his brother brought Adam down a bit, speaking more calmly than before. But even through his cold tone, the fire of his passion still shone through, "This is the path I've chosen, and I'm going to follow it through to the end. No matter what that mean for me, or for us. I'm going to put a stop to the Galra. I'll make them fear me."

Shiro's heart broke for the man. Seeing him lose his way so severely made him want to cry. This couldn't be what his older brother would have wanted for him. And even though Shiro could understand why Adam was falling down this emotional slope, that thought was persistent in his mind. All those long nights talking with Adam, helping him overcome the loss of his only family couldn't have been for nothing. That meant something to Shiro, and it had to mean something to Adam as well.

Shiro stepped towards him again, his voice soft, "Am I supposed to fear you too?"

"It would be better for you if you did. For you to see me as the monster I am," Adam's words were cold and lifeless, ready to accept the lonely road this would take him down.

"You're not a monster."

"Aren't I?" Adam spoke defiantly, "Everything I am now was set in motion the moment the Galra took my brother from me. So why does it matter what I do, when everything I am was determined by something I can't even abide?"

 _Stop it. Stop doing this to yourself._ Shiro's mind was screaming, desperate to bring back the man he loved. This wasn't how he wanted to lose him. He didn't want to let him go anymore. He was too important in his life, and he still needed to make up for so much. To set right.

"You're just in pain. You don't really want to kill anymore than I do," Shiro's desperation was leaking into his voice, threatening to break the conviction that would help him save Adam, "I know it's easy to demonize your victims. To see them as monsters who destroyed your life, and the lives of others. It's comforting. It's easy. Because if we didn't do that, then what would that make us for killing so many of them?"

"That's not the same! You and I are very different when it comes to this," Adam refuted that logic. He wasn't going to let Shiro talk him down with his beautifully inspiring and comforting words. Not again. He was steadfast in his resolve.

"I know you told me about that fire inside you. That flame of vengeance burning deep in your heart. That same fire in you, burns within me too," Shiro admitted.

He didn't say anything before because he didn't think it would help, but he had to come clean now. That fire was there from the moment he escaped, wanting to reclaim vengeance for all the horrible things that had been done to him. But he knew what following it would mean. He knew choosing to follow it would result in the blood and death of so many others. And while that would be satisfying at the time, demonizing his victims would only serve to blind him to the truth. And the truth was that somewhere behind the tyranny, the Galra were people with their own families and their own beliefs. Innocent people, misguided people, and those wanting to rebel. Slaughtering them without remorse would only serve to taint Shiro's very being and humanity. That wasn't right.

So he chose to put a lid on that fire for his own sake, and for the sake of others. Keeping it under control was hard sometimes, but he knew it was the best thing to do. He would only fight and kill those he had to. The ones who chose to fight for an evil empire that ruled without remorse, in the hopes he could liberate the ones that dreamed of something better. A Galra had helped him escape, and another only wanted to save his brother. That was proof enough for him, and it kept him strong. But Adam, he felt things so deeply, he was at risk of giving into that darkness. And not only that, but his thirst for vengeance was for the people he loved, not himself. That would make it much harder to break through. Which was why Shiro hoped coming clean about this now would help him.

Adam stared at him in disbelief, scared, and maybe a little somber, "I don't believe you. You can't possibly know what this feels like."

"I know if you continue down this path, your fire is going to consume you. And pretty soon, your body is going to be covered with the burns of all the horrible things you've done."

Adam thought for a moment, the faintest smirk appearing on his lips. It was so ironic, that it almost made him a little happy, because he had just won this argument, and Shiro had just handed it to him, "You don't get it Takashi. I'm already burning," Adam scoffed, his words the death nail in this conversation, and Shiro's last chance of saving him

He turned to leave, opening the door and walking out of Shiro's room. He didn't take two steps before two big strong arms were wrapping around him from behind, a firm weight pressed against his back. Shiro's head was buried in his shoulder as the larger man hugged him from behind.

Adam just stood there, letting himself be held as he spoke, "You can't stop me Takashi. This is one thing you can't save me from."

"I'm not going to stop trying," Shiro insisted, his floof of white hair brushing Adam's shoulder as he shook his head, his warm breath making his skin tingle.

"How stupid can you be? I'm just going to hurt you like this," Adam's voice quivered. Why did Shiro have to be so stubborn?

"I know," he said simply, his grip around him tightening.

"I don't have any other choice. How am I supposed to live with myself if I don't do everything I can to make up for what happened to Aiden?" Adam whimpered. Why couldn't he be as strong as Shiro? He wanted nothing more than to follow his example and make everyone proud. But he couldn't let this go, no matter how hard he tried.

Shiro lifted his head up, resting his chin on Adam's shoulder, "Life isn't always simple. You do have a choice, and so do I. That's why I'm not going to give up on you."

"You should!" Adam said quickly, turning his head slightly towards Shiro, "I gave up on you before. It's only fair you do the same to me."

"I won't," Shiro said, like it was the easiest thing int the world. How could he be like this!?

"Why not!?" Adam started to cry.

Shiro smiled, "Because I love you, and I don't want to lose you again."

"It's not fair," Adam's body began to shake as tears fell from his eyes, "I can't love you like this."

"It's okay. I'll still be here for you."

Adam could barely control himself, the tears falling freely from his eyes, "It isn't right. Why are you always the one protecting me?"

Shiro chuckled softly, acting as if nothing was wrong, "Am I? Then why am I always the one making you cry?" He let go of Adam, turning him around to face him, "You can stay here with me tonight. Please stay."

Shiro grabbed Adam's hand, leading him back into his room and closing the door behind him. Adam allowed himself to be pulled into bed, unable to deny him. He pulled off his glasses with one hand, setting them on the nearby table before climbing onto the soft thin mattress. Shiro laid flat on his back, Adam cuddling up against him, head resting on his chest. Shiro wrapped an arm around him, holding him close as he pressed a kiss to the top of Adam's head.

Adam's tears slowly came to stop after a few minutes, comforted by Shiro's warm embrace. How long had it been since they held each other like this? So tender and lovingly? Adam had remained unyielding in his conviction for revenge, but he still felt like he lost somehow.

He did his best to push Shiro away. That was the whole reason he came here tonight. He was determined to continue down this road towards revenge, and he didn't want to drag him down with him. He even went as far as to punch him! But yet again, Shiro proved just how amazing he could be by refusing to let him go. He chose to believe in Adam, even when Adam wasn't believing in himself. He just wished he could let all this anger and hatred go. He wanted nothing more than to show Shiro he could do it, and to be with him again. But he couldn't let the crimes against his loved ones go unpunished. In that regard, he was weak. And Shiro, he was so strong.

In another reality, they'd probably be together right now if Adam was as strong. But too much had happened that he just couldn't let go. And in this state of mind he needed to be in, it just wasn't possible to love him right now. He refused to love Shiro when his soul and emotions were tainted. It would be a long and hard road back, but he could only give himself to Shiro once he accomplished what he needed to, and then started to atone for the sins he committed along the way.

It was the cruelest twist of fate really. Bot of them clearly still loved and wanted each other, but they kept passing each other by. Adam just prayed that one day, just maybe, they could get past everything and be together once more. No matter how much he cherished Shiro's care and companionship, nothing had ever felt as intoxicating and sweet… as being loved by him.

 **VVVVVVVV**

Aiden sat in the cock pit of his podship, watching as the Champion hugged his brother from behind before leading him back into his room. A feat that was only possible because of the hidden virus he had planted in that experimental testing facility. That had been the true purpose of his plan back then. Once Adam and the girl downloaded the data and uploaded to their castle, it gave Aiden remote access to their monitoring systems.

He didn't have much control in their systems beyond that, as that would raise suspicion. However, it was the perfect way to keep tabs on the paladins and his little brother. He knew eventually Zarkon would find another way to track Voltron or would call off Aiden's plan once it cost them too many resources, so this was the middle ground for them to meet. Now he had a remote device that would allow him to spy on Voltron's inner workings. Not even that little tech girl would find this code unless she was specifically looking for it, and she had no reason to be suspicious of it.

"So, that's how it is," Aiden smiled as he watched them, "My little brother and the champion. It's almost funny how things work out. But you'll see that soon enough, dear brother."

Aiden turned off the feed, powering up his ship and leaving central command. He had places to be.


End file.
